By Osahon Osahon
Governor Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has again been predicted to win the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State, an independent opinion poll conducted in the state had projected.
The poll conducted by an independent research group, Precious Hands and Brains Consult, stated that the survey revealed that Diri will emerge winner with wide margin if the election was conducted today.
This is coming barely a month after a similar opinion poll conducted by a team of six researchers and 50 research assistants also predicted Governor Diri’s victory at the governorship election.
According to the poll result, Diri is better position to defeat APC governorship candidate who doubled as a former governor and immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and Udengs Eradiri of the Labour Party.
Announcing results from the poll at a press conference in Ughelli, Delta State, on Thursday, the Co-ordinator of the seven-man research team and former Editor of Guardian Newspapers, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, noted that the poll was conducted in the eight local government areas of the state.
The research group noted that participants in the poll judged the incumbent Governor Diri to have performed better in the area of security, human capital development, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and education.
The opinion poll was conducted in Brass, Ekeremor, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Nembe, Ogbia, Sagbama, Southern Ijaw and Yenagoa LGAs of the state.
The Poll, which was anchored on participatory democracy, clearly shows that Donye Diri has a wide margin of lead in the 8 local government areas of Bayelsa state.
The group stated that their reason for conducting the poll is the promotion of good governance and to determine the re-electability of Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri for a second tenure in office.
“Our poll result was rather too optimistic and we then decided to place it against concrete evidence of good governance on the ground. Figures are inadequate when dealing with humans with hopes and aspirations for their children. We needed proof to match the result of the field survey.
“This led us to the second project, Diri’s first tenure scorecard or the list of some verified projects executed by the self-styled Prosperity Administration.
“Governor Diri’s scorecard covers major road construction, reconstruction of flood-impacted roads, internal roads construction and reconstruction, especially in the State capital Yenagoa. There are also recorded interventions in education, health, agriculture, security, and sports. Workers’ welfare/equity, and human capacity development initiatives are on the scorecard. These have been accentuated by Constituency Projects executed by the 24 members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly.”
The poll report stated further, “The data analysis presented here is the integrated data collated from the eight LGAs in September 2023. The sample size for data totals nine hundred and ninety (990) respondents. The number is obtained by summing up sample sizes of the strata.”
“The composition of the 990 respondents is as follows: 463 males and 527 females. In terms of age, the majority falls within the 30-39 years range which is unarguably the most active in political activities. Their marital status is Married 50.1%, Single 36.2% and Divorced 13.7%. Importantly, 82.3% have Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). On how they get their information on the Prosperity Administration, 56.2% say they relied on the radio.”
“Another 44.4% maintained Governor Diri could improve communication with Bayelsans through the same medium. The popularity of radio among the Bayelsa electorate and perhaps elsewhere is linked to the GSM technology. Every phone has FM enabling voters to be properly informed. Integrated Data Presentation and Analysis (Poll Result) We had overstepped a little into characterization and asked the aspect of Diri that attracted them the most, 58.3% stated his “Simplicity,” 20.3% his accommodating nature, 12.4% his accessibility while 9% his openness.”
“But when asked if Diri actually fulfilled his campaign promises, 70% voted yes. Although there is a 30% margin of areas where the governor is yet to fulfill his promises, he can reduce this deficit to a single unit by doing the needful.”
“Good governance encompasses the eight pillars of grassroots development, namely, Health Care, Infrastructural Development, Education, Job Creation, Youth Empowerment, Women Empowerment, Agriculture and Security.”
The team said residents scored Diri 77.8% for infrastructural development, Provision of Health Care 74.7%, Education 72.9%, Youth Empowerment 76.6%, Women Empowerment 58.1%, Security 72.1%, and Agriculture 47.1% which fell below average.
However, it was not rosy for the governor as part of the opinion poll result requires Diri to place greater attention on Job Creation and the provision of Health Care Centres to foster peace in society.
“Once people are meaningfully engaged, they think less of crime, which in turn eases the pressure for more security. Bayelsa will become more prosperous if the resources earmarked for fighting crime are redirected to a productive end.
“The reproduced data show that the majority is willing to vote him into office for a second tenure. ‘When asked: Would you vote for Governor Diri for Second tenure’? The motivation behind this gesture could be the Prosperity Administration’s hallmarks of good governance and fairness. Evidently, this is a government that spreads the dividends of democracy to all.”
Governor Diri’s application of unusual solutions to unique problems may explain why he is ahead in Bayelsa 2023. In all, his second tenure promises to be a progression of the first,” the report added.
