The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), David Lyon has identified coastal erosion as a major challenge facing many communities in the state and has vowed to tackle it headlong within available resources if elected as governor.
Lyon speaking in Akassa during his campaign tour over the weekend, bemoaned the absence of good schools and functional health care facilities in the area, noting that the PDP has brought untold poverty to Bayelsans and it was time to vote them out.
The APC candidate said he was seeking the governorship seat to correct the wrongs of the present PDP government which has put the state on reverse gear, especially as a result of high level of insecurity in the state.
He condemned the deceit with which the people of the state have been governed for about eight years, noting that, “when a leader tells lies, development suffers.”
The Alternate Director General of the APC governorship campaign council, Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe in his introduction, described David Lyon as a humble and successful business man who has the capacity to navigate the Bayelsa ship to safe shores.
The people of Akassa through their autonomous clan heads pleaded with Lyon to save them from untold hardship, stating that there is unprecedented suffering in the land.
Meanwhile, kinsmen of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva have pledged total support for the APC during the election.
In a rare demonstration of political unity between Okpoama and the neighbouring Odioma Kingdom, the people of the two kingdoms vowed to give all their votes to Lyon.
At Okpoama, the King of Okpoama kingdom, His Royal Majesty, King Ebitimi Emmanuel Banigo, speaking on behalf of Okpoama and Odioma kingdoms, expressed joy that the two kingdoms of Okpoama and Odioma are totally at peace and have come together to receive the APC candidate.
He expressed regrets at the state of affairs in the state, saying as one of the founding fathers of the state and one who has over the years championed the cause of the Ijaw nation, it is sad to say that the state is a far cry from what they had dreamed of, as founding fathers.
The monarch eulogized the humility and philanthropy of the APC candidate, saying as a royal father, he is expected to bless candidates who are running for political office, but that with what he has seen and knows about the APC candidate and because of his love for the state and his desire to see Bayelsa state rise and be great, he is left with no choice than to support him.