Bayelsa Guber: Can Jonathan’s support for Diri tip the scales?
As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) prepares to battle with its major opponent, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and 43 other political parties for the control of Bayelsa State during the November 16, 2019 governorship election, there have been speculations over who gets the support of former President Goodluck Jonathan, between David Lyon and Senator Douye Diri.
Since the emergence of Diri as the candidate of the PDP during the September 3, 2019 governorship primary of the party, Jonathan has not been in the state; he has been travelling for a peace mission across Africa.
During the buildup to the PDP governorship primary election, Jonathan was said to have supported the former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe, while Governor Seriake Dickson supported Senator Douye Diri, a member of his ‘Restoration Family,’ who eventually picked the ticket.
Although the outcome of the PDP primary election is still being contested in court, there are rumours that Jonathan and his allies are seriously working for the victory of another party, precisely the APC.
Immediately after the PDP governorship primary, some close allies of the former president dumped the party for the APC. Most of those that decamped are from Ogbia Local Government Area, Jonathan’s home town. Notable among them are Senator Nimi Amange; Chief Robert Ajala Enugha; immediate past chairman of the Environmental Sanitation Board under Seriake Dickson’s government, Mr Claudius Inegesi, and Mr Michael Ogiasa, special adviser to Governor Dickson on power development. They all led hundreds of their supporters to formally declare for the APC and its candidate, Chief David Lyon.
It was learnt that the former president is not happy with the way Governor Dickson foisted his anointed candidate on the people without proper consultation with stakeholders.
Few weeks to the PDP governorship primary, Jonathan had warned stakeholders of the party in the state that without unity in the ranks of its members, the APC would find their way into the state Government House after the November 16 governorship election.
The special adviser to Governor Seriake Dickson on media relations, Mr Fidelis Soriwei, quoted the former president as saying this during the PDP Elders Advisory Council meeting at the Bayelsa Government House in Yenagoa.
He said, “It is only our unity that can give us victory; and if we are not united, they (APC) can get away with it. For example, it took the unity of the people of Rivers State, including women who were resolute against soldiers, to get the PDP victory in the state. If that had not happened, the opposition would have taken it.
“Although the APC in Bayelsa State lacks political presence at the ward, local government and state levels to win the November 16, 2019 governorship election, the PDP must be more united to retain power in the state.
“I need to plead with all the aspirants and political leaders that there should be no mudslinging. We must free the space and eschew rancour because finally, one person will become the candidate of the party, and for that one person to win the election, all aspirants must work for him.
“For us to secure this state for the PDP, we need maximum unity, and that is why all the 21 aspirants are important to us. We must have that maximum unity and not create any form of division or discrimination. At the end of the day, one person will emerge and all of us will work for whoever emerges as candidate of the party.’’
Earlier, Governor Dickson stressed the need for members of the party to have a united front to maintain its dominance and control of power in the state. He called on all members of the party to work hard for victory.
When the governorship candidate of the APC, Chief David Lyon, flagged off his campaign at Jonathan’s local government area few weeks ago, the turnout was massive. Those who spoke during the rally said that despite the fact that it took the son of the area to bring Dickson to power, the
Last weekend, during a meeting between Jonathan and Douye Diri, in the company of some PDP state governors, the former president was quoted as saying that he would not work for the APC during the governorship election
governor had not done anything there.
Last weekend, during a meeting between Jonathan and Douye Diri, in the company of some PDP state governors, the former president was quoted as saying that he would not work for the APC during the governorship election. This declaration doused the political tension in the state concerning the candidate Jonathan would support during the election.
In the 2015 governorship election, where Dickson contested and won for a second term, it took the goodwill and respect for Jonathan for the people to vote for the PDP against the then APC candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, who was considered to be more popular.
Reacting to the gale of defections that hit the PDP, Governor Dickson said those who took that decision were outsiders to the party.
In a statement by his chief press secretary, Mr Fidelis Soriwei on Thursday, the governor said the defectors were engrossed in internal sabotage against the party.
He alleged that most of the defectors who formed an opposition group within the PDP actually supported the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in the last election while the rest refused to work for the party.
He insisted that the defectors, whose number he described as infinitesimal, would not have any detrimental effect on the electoral fortunes of the PDP in the next gubernatorial election in the state, adding that the party is generally accepted. He said that even the very few members of the Restoration Team who left were still in touch with his government.
The governor spoke shortly after receiving his Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Markson Fefegha, who resigned on October 18, 2019 and was about joining the APC but has since changed his mind and returned to the PDP.
He said, “I can say confidently that 90 per cent of the defectors have not been at the core of the PDP affairs in the state; and most of them were the ones doing anti party activities and the household of the opposition group within the party. A number of them supported the ADC in the last election while others have been on the fence.
“The good people of Bayelsa should note that these purported defectors cannot affect what we do in the PDP.
“Only very few people who were part of the PDP have defected, but they are still in touch with the leadership of the party because they are open to discussion. We are still reaching out to them.’’
The governor further said that despite defections to the opposition APC, the party lacks the presence to win elections in Bayelsa State.
Daily Trust on Sunday notes that during the National Assembly poll early in the year, it was the same disagreement between Jonathan and Dickson that made the PDP lose the Bayelsa East senatorial district and others.
Dickson is also wooing some of the allies of former President Jonathan who felt aggrieved after the governorship primary election. Last week, he visited King A. J Turner, who, in 2012 persuaded Jonathan to accept him as the governorship candidate of the PDP. He eventually won the election.
Dickson and Turner, however, fell apart after Jonathan lost the presidential election in 2015. The frosty relationship also affected the fortune of the PDP in Bayelsa East, where Turner wields enormous influence.