This was conveyed in a statement signed on Wednesday by the President of INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, the National Executive Council, and members of the apex pan-Ijaw socio-cultural organisation.
It stated that, in line with the provisions of the INC constitution, the leadership of the body could not demonstrate support for any particular candidate during the electioneering period.
The statement noted that the Congress, however, has the mandate to felicitate the declared winner of the contest.
The INC condemned all forms and degrees of violence that occurred before and during the election.
It advised any political party or candidate that was not satisfied with the outcome of the polls not to take laws into their own hands but to demonstrate a good spirit of sportsmanship and join hands with the declared winner for the good of Bayelsa in particular and the Ijaw nation in general.
It also strongly admonished the governor to be magnanimous in victory by extending “his usual benevolence” to all and continuing to make the dividends of democracy felt and enjoyed by all citizens and residents in the state.
“As the parent organisation of all Ijaws, the INC advises His Excellency to consolidate on the gains of his first tenure, especially in the areas of human capital development, security of lives and property, maintenance of law and order, infrastructural development, and industrialisation of the state that is already blessed with abundant human and natural resources.
“The INC calls on all citizens and residents in Bayelsa State to rally around the governor in his efforts to foster the much-needed unity, peace, and sustainable development of Bayelsa State — the Jerusalem of the Ijaw Nation,” the statement said.
Recall that Governor Diri, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, was announced as the winner of the governorship election by the INEC State Returning Officer, Prof. Kuta Farouq, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Technology, Minna.
The governor polled a total of 175,196 votes to defeat his major opponent, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress, who got 110,108 votes, while the Labour Party candidate, Udengs Eradiri, came in third with 905 votes.
