The People’s Democratic Party,(PDP), in Bayelsa State has won the remaining two seats in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly re-run election which were contested Saturday in Southern Ijaw and Ekeremor local government areas.

The former Speaker of the State Assembly, Rt. Hon. Kombowei Friday Benson won the election into the Southern Ijaw Constituency IV for the 4th term, while Mr. Michael Ogbere, also of the PDP won the Ekeremor Constituency III seat.

Kombowei polled 10,033 votes to beat two other contenders including candidates of All Progressives Congress, (APC) who got 2,595 votes and candidate of Alliance for Democracy (AD) who polled 2,467 votes.

The total valid votes were 15,183, total votes cast were 15,407, while accredited voters were 15,564 out of a total of 49,564 registered voters in the constituency.

Declaring the Southern Ijaw Constituency IV result, the Returning Officer, Dr. Bertola Perekeme, said Mr. Kombowei Benson satisfied all the requirements, and therefore declared winner and returned elected.

For Ekeremor Constituency III, the Returning Officer, Dr. Johnson Dagana, declared Mr. Michael Ogbere of the PDP winner with 4,246 votes ahead of DPP candidate, who polled 74 votes and the man who went to court to annul the 2015 election, Victor Perezi of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) who came third with 45 votes.

Perezi had won the election in 2011 under PPA before later decamping to the PDP and only to return to PPA few days to the 2015 general election.

Reacting to the conduct of the re-run election after casting his vote at unit 2,ward 3 Korokorosei on Saturday, Kombowei said the nullification of his earlier election was regrettable and unnecessary when he clearly won the election.

“What really beat my imagination was the fact that a court of that magnitude, Court of Appeal, could have two different judgments; one nullifying my election and the other dismissing the petition which led to our going back for elections and by the grace of God, we have won as expected and am happy we are back on stage,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Hon. Miriki Ebikibina has faulted the decision by the Candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to withdraw from the re-run election held in constituency 4 of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

The opposition candidates, Ebifeghe Orunimighe of APC and Victor-Ben Eridei had few hours to the election protested against the alleged poor timing fixed for the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to Orunimighe and Eridei, the March 5 fixed by INEC and the February 10th decision by the PDP candidate to step down from the Assembly as Speaker were inconsistent with the 90 days order issued by the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State when he annulled the victory of the PDP.

 Ebikibina, immediate past Senior Special Assistant to Governor Dickson on Inter-Party matters, said in Yenagoa Sunday that the excuses of poor timing was an excuse by the APC and AD candidates not to be disgraced at the polls.

“It is an exercise that they fully participated in and made input into including Stakeholders Meeting, witnessing and inspection of election materials and transportation of the materials from the racks to the voting points of the exercise by their agents.

“The last minute boycott of the election portrays them as not only deceitful but a clear show of unseriousness and unpreparedness. It is painful and tortuous, having to go through the Election Petition Tribunal to the Court of Appeal and to the annulment of the Speaker’s Election victory, only to boycott the rerun exercise mid way. It amounts to insulting the sensibility of the electorate.”