The Nation Newspaper

Category: Kogi/Bayelsa 2019

  • INEC to deliver materials in Bayelsa with helicopters

    Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

     

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Wednesday that it had secured the services of some helicopters to deliver sensitive materials to difficult terrains in Bayelsa State as part of its preparations for the November 16 governorship election.

    Briefing journalists in Yenagoa, the state capital, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Monday Udoh also dismissed reports that the commission under his watch in the state was colluding with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the poll.

    Udoh observed that Bayelsa being about 75 per cent water had always been a very difficult state to conduct election especially during the movement of materials and election personnel.

    He said: “We are tackling insecurity and on 1st of November, I am going to be in Abuja with the IGP and other top ranks of the military and other security agencies to also talk more about the security, how we are going to escort our materials to where they are supposed to be.

    “We have enlisted the use of helicopters so that where we used to have so much problem or maybe so much time running on the sea, we have to airlift them to where they should be”.

    The REC stressed that INEC Bayelsa was seriously working towards conducting a free, fair, credible and peaceful election governorship election on November 16.

    He insisted that there was no truth in the report that he conspired with the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Otuoke to enlist APC members as supervisory officers (SPOs) describing it as fake news.

    “We shall remain focused on achieving our mandate. We shall not be distracted by fake and false news being peddled against my humble self and INEC Bayelsa State.

    “I want to state frantically, I have no contact with the Acting DVC of Otuoke either to recruit or to receive a list from him. So it is completely false and a fragment of the imagination of the authors of such news”, he said.

    He said the commission in collaboration with the Nigeria Navy commenced the profiling of all the marine boat owners contracted to convey the non-sensitive materials election to the various polling units in all the communities across the riverine areas of the state.

    Read Also: INEC distributes 2.4m PVCs in Bayelsa, Kogi

    Udoh said he was able to convince the national commission to allow the election in Bayelsa run for three following the difficult terrain of the state.

    He said: “Now, over one month to the election, we have concluded arrangements with boat owners and the supply of buses to the point that Navy is profiling them. Profiling means that we want to know the owners of the boats and the identities of their drivers.

    “We have trained our adhoc staff about two weeks ahead of the election. Apart from that we have giving them copies of the training so that even when they go home, they can train themselves.

    “INEC wants this election to be exemplary in a way that it is going to act as a catalyst for the 2023 general election”.

  • INEC distributes 2.4m PVCs in Bayelsa, Kogi

    Agency Reporter

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has so far distributed 2,485136 Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to the electorate in Bayelsa and Kogi ahead of the Nov. 16, Governorship Poll.

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at a quarterly consultative meeting of the Commission with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Abuja on Wednesday.

    “A total of 889,308 PVCs were collected in Bayelsa, while 1,485,828 PVCs were collected by the electorate in Kogi as at Sept. 30,” he said.

    Yakubu said in Bayelsa, the number of PVCs collected represented 96.3 per cent of 923,182 registered voters in the state, while the number of uncollected PVCs stood at 33,874, representing 3.7 per cent.

    He also said 1,485,828 PVCs were collected in Kogi, representing 90.2 per cent of 1,646,350 registered voters in the state, while 160,522 PVCs were still uncollected, representing 9.8 per cent of the registered voters.

    “The commission will make available detailed figures of PVCs collected in each state by Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Registration Areas (RAs) as part of our continuing effort to deepen transparency and accountability.
    “Copies will be made available at the commission stakeholders’ meetings in Yenagoa and Lokoja. The same information will also be uploaded on INEC website.

    “Meanwhile, all uncollected PVCs have been retrieved from our LGA offices and would be deposited at the branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria in Bayelsa and Kogi for safe keeping, pending the resumption of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR),’’ he said.

    Read Also: ‘INEC fixes senatorial poll for Nov 16 to save N290m’

    Yakubu also disclosed that the commission has accredited 135 domestic observer groups and 16 foreign observer groups for the Nov. 16 election in the two states.

    He said that while 67 domestic observer groups were accredited for Bayelsa, 68 were accredited for Kogi, and eight foreign observer groups for each of the states.

    The INEC boss reminded the observer groups of the imperative of submitting their reports in line with the terms of their accreditation.

    “For the 2019 General Elections, INEC accredited a total of 159 observer groups out of which 120 were domestic and 39 foreign. Collectively, they proposed to deploy 73,562 observers made up of 71,256 domestic and 2,306 foreign.

     

    “However, seven months after the general elections, the commission has so far received reports from only 72 observer groups representing 45.2 per cent, out of 159.

    “I wish to remind those that are yet to formally submit their reports to the Commission to do so in earnest in both hard and soft copies as required of them under their terms of accreditation,’’ he said.

    Yakubu said that for the groups that had submitted their reports, INEC had analysed their recommendations for implementation.

    He, however, noted that majority of the recommendations tend to be general and not detailed and specific enough for remedial action.

    “This is especially where inadequacies or failures that could lead to action taken against individuals or groups were reported.

    “More detailed and accurate recommendations will help us identify locations, individuals or groups responsible for infractions and take appropriate action or in the case of exceptional performance to commend those responsible,’’ he said.

    Yakubu disclosed that the commission had had engagement with security agencies to ensure unimpeded access to voting locations and collation centres for accredited observers and the media in Bayelsa and Kogi.
    This according to him was in addition to adequate protection for all, including election officials and voters.

    “We also agreed that the rules of engagement for security officials on election duty should be reprinted and made available to the security personnel and stakeholders,” he said.

    He assured that CSOs would continue to play important role in the country’s democratic process.
    “We value your engagement with the Commission and will continue to deepen it,’’ he said.

    Speaking on behalf of the CSOs, the Executive Director, Inclusive Friends Association, Mrs Grace Jerry, assured INEC of the organisation’s continued support towards improving the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

    Jerry, however, decried the number of female candidates for Kogi and Bayelsa governorship election.
    She said that was an indication that more still needed to be done to improve the participation of women and Persons Living with Disability ahead of 2023 general elections.

    She urged participants at the meeting to give recommendations that would help INEC to improve on the electoral process.(NAN)

  • Vote Buying: EFCC, ICPC to monitor Kogi, Bayelsa campaigns, elections – INEC

    Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it has enlisted the services of anti-corruption agencies to fight the menace of vote-buying during the Bayelsa and Kogi states elections next month.

    Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who gave the hint during the Quarterly Consultative Meeting with Political Parties in Abuja on Tuesday, also said all election duty staff of the commission would be made to swear to an Oath of Neutrality before taking part in the process.

    Prof. Yakubu, who revealed that the commission was already winning its war against vote buying, announced that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), during the 2019 General Elections, made arrests of alleged vote buyers in different parts of the country, many of whom had been charged to court and one conviction already secured.

    He, however, explained that the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) had been charged with the responsibility of monitoring the movement of cash during the campaigns and the election day in the two states, warning that whoever is nabbed in the act would be charged with the violation of the Electoral Act.

    The INEC boss, who said the commission had been massively engaging stakeholders in the two states ahead of the elections, to prevent a violent election, said he would continue on further engagements and appealed to political parties to prevail on their supporters and followers not to engage in acts capable of causing breakdown of law and order in the states.

    Read Also: INEC colluding with APC to rig poll, Bayelsa PDP alleges

    “Given the history of volatile politics in the two states, the commission decided to engage the stakeholders early and also continuously. In adding to several focused engagements, we had major stakeholders meetings not long ago in Yenagoa and Lokoja. I was personally present.

    “The tradition of the commission if for the Chairman of INEC and the Inspector General of Police to address stakeholders a few days to the election, but this time around we decided to break with tradition, over a month to election in the two states, I personally visited Yenagoa and Lokoja and addressed the stakeholders and visited some local government areas.

    “We plan to have more engagements. On the 7th of November, the IGP and I will be in Bayelsa to address the stakeholders. We’ll repeat the same thing in Lokoja on the 11th of November. Our objective is to speak early and loudly enough to all stakeholders on the necessity for peaceful conducts during campaigns, election day activities, to collation of results, declaration of winners and the aftermath.

    “Electioneering campaigns have already begun, the appeal of the commission, once again, to political parties is to speak to your candidates and supporters and to advise them against hate speech, inciting statements, physical attacks on opponents, destruction of each other’s’ campaign materials and other sundry violations of the Electoral Act.

    “Of course, voter harassment, voter intimidation, including vote buying at polling units, constitutes violations of the Electoral Act. Prohibition of the use of mobile phones by voters in the voting cubicles is still in force. We are going to deepen our collaboration with the EFCC and the ICPC in this respect. They will keep eyes on the movement of cash during electioneering campaigns and on election day.

    “On this note, I am actually very happy to report that during the 2019 General Elections, alleged vote buyers were arrested across the country by the EFCC. Some have already been charged to court. The latest updates I received indicate that the EFCC has secured the first conviction of a vote buyer in Gombe State. This surely is a welcomed development.

    “Similarly, about two weeks ago, the commission received some case files from the Nigeria Police of alleged offenders generally from the 2019 General Elections. We are studying the case files for further necessary action. We have consistently warned all staff of the commission to remain neutral and professional. All election duty staff will swear to an oath of neutrality, as required by law.

    “Training of ah-hoc staff has been intense, materials and staff will be deployed promptly to all Pus, in fact, all non-sensitive materials for the four elections have already been delivered in the states and we have batched them and categorized them by local government areas. We are just waiting for the sensitive materials so that we’ll move to the polling units, as we have promised to do.

    “We are working with security agencies to ensure that our officials, materials, processes and procedures are adequately protected. As I said earlier, I shall be in Yenagoa along with the Inspector General of Police to address the stakeholders and to sign a peace accord on the 7th of November and the 11th of November in Lokoja”, he said.

    Responding on behalf of the political parties, the President of the Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC), Chief Peter Ameh, highlighted the role so far played by the organization to realize a level playing ground for political parties in the country.

    He charged contestants in the two states to go about the election peacefully, realizing that there is no need to use force or any other means that cannot be said to be democratic, realizing that whoever wins is from the state and must have gotten the mandate from the people rightly.

    “We have to speak to ourselves that those who are going to contest election in Kogi and Bayelsa must understand that whoever will win must be an indigene of either Bayelsa or Kogi state, so there will not be need for any other voice to be shut down in the process trying to get into government because if you are going to government the people, you must get their right mandate through the ballot box and not through gun or intimidation

    “It’s key we state clearly what IPAC has been doing over the years. We are a multi-stakeholder platform, working for a sustainable and credible electoral environment, speaking out against mudslinging, name-calling, when it comes to campaign, electoral violence, ballot-box snatching and voter intimidation, including vote-buying.

    “For us as members of the council, one of the things that we’ll continue to fight for is how a credible and level playing field is created for all registered political parties in Nigeria, to participate in elections, without any higher authority having an over-imposing hand over other registered parties,” he said.

  • Bayelsa guber: APC counters PDP over allegation of collusion with INEC

    Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

     

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the allegation of collusion with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), by the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as an intimidation ploy.

    Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Yekini Nabena, who dismissed the PDP’s alarm as baseless foul crying, alleging instead that the PDP and its candidate were doing everything possible to intimidate the Resident Electoral Commission (REC) into doing their bidding.

    The PDP’s governorship candidate in the upcoming election in Bayelsa state, Senator Douye Diri, had on Monday alleged that the APC had connived with the INEC to influence the list of Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs) deployed for the Bayelsa governorship election.

    Read Also; INEC colluding with APC to rig poll, Bayelsa PDP alleges

    But in a statement made available to newsmen, Tuesday in Abuja, Nabena said the PDP and its governorship candidate were crying wolf in the face of its imminent election defeat, come November 16.

    APC also revealed that the Bayelsa REC and its official rejected the bribe offer made to them by the PDP’s elements hence the call for the REC’s removal.

    “The baseless allegation by the PDP and their governorship candidate is part of their plan to intimidate INEC and other critical stakeholders that will be on official election duty. You can see the PDP during their campaigns, they have nothing to tell Bayelsans following the failed administration of Governor Seriake Dickson so they have resorted to falsehood, peddling rumours and crying wolf.

    “The popularity and wide acceptance of the APC governorship candidate, Chief David Lyon, is giving the PDP sleepless nights. The PDP’s nightmares will soon be over after Bayelsans vote them out on November 16”, Nabena said.

    According to him, the real issue is the PDP plots to turn Bayelsa state into a warzone so as to enable them buy votes and rig the election.

    “Bayelsans are more alarmed by the PDP’s arms stockpiling, massive looting of state funds by the outgoing government of Seriake Dickson and other illegal activities geared to rig the election,” he said.

  • Okoko suffering post-traumatic disorder, says Lyon

    By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

     

    The Bayelsa State Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief David Lyon, has lambasted a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Keniebi Okoko, following his claims that he lacked the capacity to win the November 16 election in the state.

    Lyon, in a statement by his Media Aide, Chief Gift Ebiki, accused Okoko of suffering a post-traumatic disorder caused by his failed bid as a governorship aspirant to clinch the ticket of his party.

    The candidate in the statement said the way and manner Okoko was deceived by his party elders and defeated at the party primaries of PDP despite spending huge amount of money and other resources were enough to cause such trauma.

    He asked Okoko to beseech God and pray for quick recovery from the shock he suffered at the PDP primary poll to enable him accept the reality of a crushing and embarrassing defeat waiting for his party at the poll.

    Lyon said Okoko misfired for comparing him, “who is already cruising to victory following his mass appeal and popularity” in the state with the Candidate of the PDP, Senator Douye Diri, “who is battling popularity crisis”.

    He said Okoko had further shown his immaturity for allowing the state government use him as an attack dog even when it was crystal clear that his party especially the current administration had disappointed the state.

    Lyon said: “I am a well-nurtured, responsible and mature person, who will not turn logic in its head for political convenience. I have demonstrated value for human lives and will never allow myself to be used as an attack dog.

    Read Also; APC won’t win with Lyon, says PDP chieftain

    “I urge Keniebi Okoko to tell Bayelsans how many people he has empowered in his community. Instead of using his wealth to create job opportunities for his immediate family and community, he uses his wealth to hire private jet to go to South Africa for birthday parties while his community people are in abject poverty.

    “Keniebi Okoko as far as I am concerned could not manage his present mental instability having lost his primary election because he has promised a lot of IOCs that he was going to be the next Governor of Bayelsa State. Unfortunately, he couldn’t have been elected as a councilor in his ward.

    “Keniebi Okoko has now been hired as an attack dog by Governor Dickson to cast aspersions against me saying I am not competent and could not cope in the midst of other governors.

    “I do not know the parameters for him to make that assessment. Every success I have in my life is by dint of my hard work and commitment coupled with the blessings of God and not from wives or parents who use their offices to provide silver linings to get contracts from IOCs. Keniebe Okoko, lacks courage to think on his own to make success in life.

    “I say emphatically that that am not contesting election with Douye Diri but am contesting the election with Governor Dickson and his inglorious Restoration team. I am properly groomed in community, local government, state and oil company politics before emerging as the governorship candidate of the APC.

    “I know that Bayelsans are wise enough to make a choice in the November 16th election, and I David Lyon will win the election by landslide”.

  • Bayelsa Poll: APC campaign draws members from PDP

    Agency Reporter

    Some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) indicated interests in the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday when David Lyon, the APC governorship candidate in Bayelsa, took campaign to Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.

    The campaign is preparatory to the state governorship election on Nov. 16.

    Lyon said that APC had convinced the politicians that decamped that the people were tired of PDP style of administration of the state and needed a positive change.

    The APC governorship candidate noted that the people lacked good road network, health facilities, schools and proper drainage systems in the entire state.

    He said that when voted into power, the APC administration would bring development, security and investors to the state.

    “Apart from these, youth empowerment schemes would be introduced while older people and the vulnerable would also be carried along,” he promised.

    Read Also: INEC colluding with APC to rig poll, Bayelsa PDP alleges

    The APC Campaign Coordinator for Sagbama, Mr Micheal Kurlorkor, said that the crowd were the indigenes of the area.

    In a welcome address, Bayelsa APC Chairman Jothan Amos promised the people that decamped of all inclusiveness during and after the election.

    The former Acting-Governor and former Speaker of the Bayelsa Assembly, Mr Nestor Binabo, said that Sagbama people were ready to support the APC candidate.

    He described the APC candidate as the chosen one to take Bayelsa to the next level.(NAN)

  • Kogi polls: We ‘ll retire Bello, Adeyemi from politics – PDP

    Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

     

    The Director-General of the Musa Wada campaign organisation, Mr Tajudeen Yusuf, has predicted the defeat of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and Senator Smart Adeyemi in the upcoming elections in the state.

    While Bello is seeking re-election as governor, Adeyemi is seeking to return to the Senate once again, to represent the Kogi West senatorial district.

    Governor Bello, who is contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is being challenged by Mr Musa Wada of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Also, Adeyemi is challenging Senator Dino Melaye of the PDP for the Kogi West senatorial seat, following the nullification of the latter’s election by the Court of Appeal, which ordered a rerun poll for the district.

    But Yusuf said the two elections, slated to hold on November 16, will mark the retirement of Governor Bello and Senator Adeyemi from partisan politics.

    In a statement he circulated in Abuja on Monday, the campaign DG said lack of infrastructural development, impoverishment of civil servants and gross ineptitude of the Bello administration have pushed the electorate in the state to embrace the PDP and its candidates.

    Stating that the administration had set the state ten years backward, Yusuf said the PDP would put an end to the nightmares through the ballot, with the support of the Kogi people.

    The statement said, “Last weekend, people from the 21 local government areas across Kogi state gave the PDP a rousing indication of coming victory in the November 16 polls, with enthusiastic support of our campaign flag-off at the Confluence Stadium in Lokoja.

    Read Also: Large turnout at Kogi excites PDP

    “We thank all our grassroots activists, party leaders at ward, local, state and national levels for the success of the flag-off of our campaign towards putting Engineer Musa Wada and Hon Sam Aro in Lugard House and re-electing Senator Dino Melaye as senator for Kogi senatorial district.

    “In the face of all manifestations of desperation by Kogi APC, the PDP is increasingly certain of success in the November 16 polls and for this, we sincerely thank all our party leaders, grassroots activists and the entire citizenry of Kogi state whose determination to sweep out the outgoing governor and his grossly insensitive leadership only assures of a coming victory celebration for PDP in Kogi state.

    “The Kogi state APC tried to imitate us, but with their usual trademarks of deceit and falsehood. In the history of Kogi state, no governor ever presented a Greek gift in the form of a used Rolls Royce car to a paramount traditional ruler in whose domain the roads have been neglected for four years”

  • INEC colluding with APC to rig poll, Bayelsa PDP alleges

    By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

    The Peoples Democratic Party Campaign Organisation in Bayelsa State has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the November 16 governorship election in the state.

    The organisation called on the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to call the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Monday Udoh, to order to prevent giving the electoral body a bad name.

    The campaign organisation alleged that it discovered that the commission in the state published a list of Supervisory Presiding Officers allegedly handed over to it by (APC) in a desperate bid to rig the governorship election slated for November 16.

    The Director, Media and Publicity of the Senator Douye Diri Campaign Organisation, Dr. Jonathan Obuebite, in a statement alleged that the APC contracted the Deputy Vice Chacellor òf the Federal University, Otuoke, to supply the APC members SPOs to subvert the election

    Obuebite called on the INEC national chairman to prevail on the REC to withdraw the list without delay in the interest of peace and engage the services of neutral and credible SPOs from institutions outside the state.

    He said that the electoral body had a responsibility to assure the Bayelsa people by its actions that it was prepared to conduct free, fair and credible election.

    Read Also: Dickson hails Bayelsans for supporting PDP

    “Bayelsans and Nigerians have seen that with what has just happened, the APC is not ready for a free, fair and credible election, but I am not surprised because they have a penchant for illicit behaviour during electioneering period.

    “I therefore call on the INEC chairman to caution the Bayelsa State REC as it is glaring that his relationship with the APC to work against the PDP will further tarnish the reputation of INEC.

    “I also call on the International Community and all security agencies to be aware of what the REC in Bayelsa State is doing to jeopardise the forthcoming governorship elections in the State”.

    Obuebite added that the PDP was demanding the immediate removal of the State REC who according to him had lost the credibility having shown an unacceptable level of bias to carry out a free, fair and credible election in the state.

    He stressed that the INEC REC portrayed himself as a man lacking in integrity and underserving of the sensitive responsibility put on his shoulders.

    He appealed to INEC to deploy RECs and commissioners of proven integrity with a reputation for impartiality and competence for the election rather than the APC RECs doing the dirty jobs of smearing the image of the commission.

    He said that INEC should be guided strongly by a consciousness of its reputation to halt the evil plot to send compromised RECs to taint the electoral process in Bayelsa.
    END.

  • Court says AA can’t field candidates for Kogi, Bayelsa elections

    By Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled out the Action Alliance (AA) from participating in the November 16, 2019 governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states.

    Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgment on Monday, held that the party has no valid candidates for the elections having failed to meet the deadlines set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the submission of nomination forms and list of candidates.

    Justice Ekwo found that AA failed the 6pm, September 9, 2019 deadline set by INEC for all political parties to submit their nomination forms and candidates list.

    The judge was of the view that the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence that they were on the premises of INEC or attempted to submit their forms before 6pm on September 9, 2019.

    He said: “I hold that their case lacks merit. The first plaintiff (AA) having not complied with the guidelines and regulations of INEC that it must submit its candidates’ nomination forms on or before 6pm on September 9, 2019 is ineligible to field candidates in the November 2019 governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa states”.

    The judgment was on the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1100/19 filed by those who claimed to be the governorship candidates of the AA in Bayesa and Kogi – Ebi Peretiemo and Samuel Alfa.

    Read Also: Bayelsa poll: Defections won’t stop Diri’s victory, says Alabrah

    Peretiemo and Alfa had claimed to have complied with the necessary regulations, and argued that, having complied with the provisions of 85(1) to (2) and Section 31(1) of the Electoral Act, INEC could not have validly rejected their nomination as candidates for the forthcoming elections.

    The plaintiffs said they were at the INEC headquarters of INEC on September 9, 2019 to submit Forms CF.001 and CF.002, among other nomination forms for the two candidates.

    They said they were given tag number 15, but an INEC official in charge of the collection of the forms refused to accept their forms when it got their turn.

  • APC wont win with Lyon, says Okoko

    By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

     

    A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayelsa State, Mr. Keniebi Okoko, has claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not make any impact in the forthcoming November 16 governorship election with David Lyon as its candidate.

    Speaking in Yenagoa, Okoko, who lost the primaries of the PDP, argued that the defections in the PDP was a blessing in disguise, saying it had given the young and energetic youths in the party the opportunity to deploy their energy for the campaigns.

    Okoko, who is a member of the PDP National and State Campaign Councils, explained that the candidate of APC could not measure up with the PDP candidate, Senator Douye Diri.

    He appealed to the people of Bayelsa to make the right choice by voting Diri in the next election, arguing that making the wrong choice could portend grave danger for the state.

    Okoko said that rather than hide behind the Minister of State, Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, the APC candidate should come out in the open to tell the people of Bayelsa his plans and programmes.

    He said: “The pockets of defections will not affect the PDP because it gives the younger ones the latitude to display their potential. Inasmuch as we want then them to stay, but their movement will not determine the outcome of the election.

    “Bayelsans are now not easily deceived anymore. Comparing Douye Diri and David Lyon is like comparing something white and black, two opposite things. And let us make this clear, that some one being a good person per se does not make him a good leader.

    “What are the criteria he has for being a leader. Is it that he runs an oil pipeline surveillance contract. Even at that, what tactics did he use to secure the pipelines.

    ” I have always said if I find someone who’s good in the APC, I will commend the person. As an example, I have always said that people like Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology, then the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, are great materials for the country, especially the Minister of Justice.

    “I have never been one who will see something right, even in the APC and not commend it. But David Lyon is a poor choice for the APC. If APC had an Aganaba (Preye) or Lokpobiri (Heineken) it could be a reason to feel jittery, but definitely not a David Lyon. I don’t think the people of Bayelsa will want to go backwards” the clergyman said.

    Okoko, who recently emerged the political leader of the Gbarain-Ekperiama kingdom, said he was glad that the PDP reconciliation committees had started making progress with the recent return of some of those who left the party.

    He said: “As a leader , let me also say that this is not about 2023, I am not thinking of 2023 governorship race. If Douye Diri does well, we will back him for the full eight years because I believe in continuity. I am more interested in what he will achieve in eight years.

    “All I am interested in is that he uses the platform that the PDP has given him to help the Gbarain people and the people of Bayelsa. And I have said it that you can be a governor without necessarily being on the seat. You are a good governor in your little space if you do the right thing.

    “Put side by side each other, the PDP and the APC candidates are not on the same level. And I am not insulting anybody here. Being a good person or that you have been good to some persons does not translate into a good leader.

    Read Also: Bayelsa monarch regains freedom 25 days after abduction

    “Governors are members of the National Economic Council. When you get there , you are supposed to contribute. The APC candidate should come out and talk about his economic policies. He should not be sending people to speak for him. Let him give us his blueprint.

    “Let him articulate his views about governance and we will listen to him. He cannot hide behind former Governor Timipre Sylva. Sylva is an intellectually sound person, any day , anytime. Nobody can take that from Sylva. He’s capable, that’s why he can go to Russia and talk and people will listen to him.

    “But he cannot hide under Sylva to become governor. He should come and speak to the Bayelsa people. Let him articulate his policies and programmes”.