Dickson, Alaibe Clash over Alleged Doctored Audios
Guber aspirant: We’ll not be distracted
A battle of attrition is raging between the Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, and a Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Bayelsa State Governorship Aspirant and former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Timi Alaibe.
The bone of contention is an alleged manipulation of Governor Dickson’s speeches for political benefits by Alibe
The Governor accused Alaibe of circulating “cynically manipulated” audio versions of addresses he delivered at political meetings to respected Nigerians with the intention to blackmail him and win the gubernatorial primaries of the PDP at all costs.
However, Alaibe has denied this allegation which he described as a surprised and unwarranted attack from the governor’s camp to distract him from running a clean gubernatorial election campaign.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, accused the former NDDC boss of resorting to blackmail to win the gubernatorial primaries of the PDP at all costs, adding that the governor regarded all the aspirants, including Alaibe, as his brothers and friends and would not do anything to destroy any one of them politically.
Soriwei said that Alibe’s desperate resort to mudsling was unnecessary because only one governorship candidate would emerge from the 21 aspirants to fly the PDP’s flag in the oncoming governorship election in the state.
Soriwei said: “It has come to the attention of the government that the former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Chief Timi Alaibe, has been spreading manipulated audio recordings of Governor Dickson’s public utterance during meetings.
“It is curious that Alaibe would rather dissipate energy to the propagation of mischief rather than focusing attention on his gubernatorial campaigns.
“We wish to reiterate for the umpteenth time that the governor, as a major stakeholder in the issue of the governorship primaries, is entitled to his own political views and decisions. And that does not preclude any politician with genuine interest from testing his popularity with the delegates.
A response from Alibe’s political camp, which was given by the Administrative Secretary of Alibe’s Campaign Organisation, Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe, said that the organisation “took serious exception to the wrong use of tar-brush and gutter language to describe the person of our principal (Alibe) with the intent to incite the public against him; particularly over an issue he knows absolutely nothing about.
“Neither Alaibe nor any member of his Campaign Organisation was at the meetings referred to in the public statement issued on Wednesday. If any of us has access to the recorded discussion mentioned in the public statement, such access can only be traced to the originators of the statement.
“Our focus is to conduct our campaign on issues that will lead to the development of Bayelsa State through a shared economic prosperity and not waste energy and time on commonplace matters.”