By Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has denied working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State.

There have been speculations in the media in recent times indicating that the former President might be working against the interest of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State.

The speculations arose from perceived frosty relationship between Dr. Jonathan and the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson,  over alleged political differences.

The speculations gained currency recently when the former President boycotted the launch  of the governorship campaign in Bayelsa where the party’s standard-bearer, Senator Douye Diri, was presented to stakeholders.

But Jonathan, who was reported to have met with some governors elected on the platform of the PDP at his Abuja home last  Friday, was said to have dismissed the speculation.

A source close to the meeting informed journalists in Abuja yesterday that Jonathan was said to have wondered how he would be working for the APC when he remained a frontline stakeholder and one of the fathers of the PDP.

The source further confided that it was impressed on the former President the need to support the PDP candidate regardless of whatever differences existed between him and Governor Dickson.

It was also said that the visitors reminded Jonathan that PDP’s loss in the election in Bayelsa would be seen as his loss of influence and relevance in his home base.

Read Also: Diri woos Jonathan’s supporters

“We made it clear to him that his name and influence is at stake and that he should do everything necessary by supporting Diri to become victorious in the November  16 elections.

“At the end, he said that as an elder and party leader that he has no personal grievances against Diri or Governor Dickson. That he is having problems was the brain child of some politicians who want to cash in on his humility and political lifestyle”, the source said.

Thereafter, Jonathan was reported to have assured the visitors of his commitment to the PDP project in Bayelsa and that he would get actively involved in the campaign to ensure the party’s victory at the November 16 election.

The governors said to have visited the former President were Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia; Seyi Makinde, Oyo; Dave Umahi, Ebonyi; Darius Ishaku, Taraba; Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto; and Bala Mohammed, Bauchi.

By Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

 

The large turnout at Saturday’s launch of the Kogi governorship election campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appeared to have excited the main opposition party to no end.

Reports had indicated apprehension on the part of some key chieftains of the party over possible attack by rival parties during the campaign, forcing the leadership of the party to embark on the rally with caution.

It was gathered that many of its key chieftains had initially stayed away to await field reports before proceeding to the Lokoja Stadium, venue of the event. The anticipated violent attack did not occur.

The elated PDP, in a statement yesterday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the “unprecedented crowd” that surged at the official launch of its campaign despite threats of violence by the All Progressives Congress (APC), was a resounding declaration by the people that nothing would stop them from kicking Governor Yahaya Bello out of office on November 16.

“The crowd is also an unmistaken demonstration of the fact that Kogi remains a home to the PDP, which will further manifest in PDP’s landslide victory at the November 16 election.

“The party notes that the earthshaking jubilation and ovations that greeted the PDP candidate, Musa Wada and his running mate, Sam Aro, established the people’s confidence and preference for the PDP and its candidate, over and above Yahaya Bello, who has failed them on all fronts.

“The PDP has been made aware of the gloom, hopelessness and dejection in the Bello camp, which is depleting by the day, following Wada’s soaring popularity and acceptability across the voting demography across Kogi State.

“Yahaya Bello is gradually coming to terms with the fact that he will soon find himself standing alone to face his inevitable prize for failure and disdain for the people of Kogi State.

Read Also: Kogi election: APC campaign council accuses Engr Wada of promoting violence

“Governor Bello now knows that the people of Kogi State cannot be intimidated by threats of violence, neither can they be bought, enticed or beguiled with filthy offers. They have since made up their minds to repay Bello in his own coin for the pain and anguish he inflicted on them in the last four years and nothing can change this resolve,” the PDP said.

The main opposition party said voting Governor Bello out of office remained paramount to the Kogi people, to be replaced will a “purposeful, people-oriented and transparent administration” of its own candidate, Musa Wada.

The party commended the people for what it described as their unity, resilience and courage in the face of “machinations, threats, assaults and manipulations by the sinking Yahaya Bello and the APC”.

It also hailed the “patriotism” of members of the APC that have crossed over to the PDP in the last few weeks, “having realised that the liberation and re-positioning of Kogi State in the interest of the people can only be attained through the PDP and Wada.”

The PDP urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security forces to “resist the shenanigans of the APC and remain on the side of truth and fairness as the people  will never accept any process that does not reflect their will and aspiration in this election.”

Also speaking in a similar vein, the Director General of the Wada Campaign Organisation, Mr. Tajudeen Yusuf, said the large turnout was an indication of assurance of the party’s victory in the coming election.

Yusuf, in a separate statement yesterday, said: “We thank all our grassroots activists, party leaders at ward, local, state and national levels for the success of the launch 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 West Senatorial District.

“While we thank all discerning  citizens across Nigeria who have unreservedly expressed support for ending the nightmarish transgressions against democracy, lack of  infrastructural  development, impoverishment of civil servants and the rudderless ineptitude which has drawn Kogi State backwards; we emphatically thank PDP leaders whose collective  support facilitated the success of our launch of campaign on Saturday.”

Bayelsa State Governor Henry Seriake Dickson has hailed the people for displaying overwhelming support for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate.

He said that the Restoration Government under his leadership was encouraged by the goodwill and the people’s show of appreciation for the developmental exploits of the administration by massively attending all the rallies of the PDP.

The governor said in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, at the weekend that he would lead the mop up rallies for gubernatorial campaigns with effect from this week.

He said that it was a deliberate decision of the leadership of the PDP to create the campaign opportunities for the candidate and his running mate to have close and effective interactions with the electorate and feel their pulse.

Dickson thanked all the former aspirants and leaders of the party who are working assiduously towards the victory of the party and the candidate.

He said that the massive attendance at the various campaign rallies showed that the few defections could not affect the political fortunes of the PDP, as the APC lacked the message, structures and presence to win election in Bayelsa.

Read Also: Bayelsa poll: Dickson accuses security forces of aiding electoral violence

The governor stressed that virtually all the elected officials of the National Assembly, State House of Assembly, the local government areas, and others in the state, are all staunch members of the PDP who are irrevocably committed to the victory of the party in the election.

He said that the APC was sponsoring magnified reports of purported defections and disagreements in the PDP to hoodwink Nigerians and the international community to cover up the leaked evil plot to abuse security and the Independent National Electoral Commission to perpetrate electoral fraud during the election.

He stressed that the APC has more problems with defections and crisis as shown by the fact that no serious leader of the APC is supporting and indeed attending the gubernatorial campaign rallies of the APC and its candidate.

He noted that the APC was further factionalised by the multiple post primary litigations by aggrieved leaders of the party with grave implications on the acceptability of the candidate even within the party.

Governor Dickson stated further that the APC was not campaigning in Bayelsa because of its awareness of the fact that the people are not with it.

He urged party members to be focused and avoid joining issues with the few defectors as the party under his leadership was holding reconciliatory meetings with them.

By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson said at the weekend that his administration’s performance was the reason people trooped out en masse to attend rallies organised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State.

The governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Fidelis Soriwei, hailed the people for supporting PDP and its candidate, Douye Diri.

He said that the Restoration Government under his leadership was encouraged by the goodwill and the people’s show of appreciation for the developmental exploits of his administration.

The governor said that he would lead the mop up rallies for governorship campaigns from this week.

He said it was a deliberate decision of the leadership of the PDP to create campaign opportunities for the candidate and his running mate to have close and effective interactions with the electorate and feel their pulse.

The governor thanked the former aspirants and leaders of the party, who were working assiduously towards the victory of the party and its candidate.

He said that the massive attendance at the campaign rallies showed that the few defections could not affect the political fortunes of the PDP, adding that the All Progressives Congress (APC) lacked the message, structure and presence to win election in Bayelsa.

Read Also: Defectors are ADC members, says Dickson

Dickson stressed that virtually all the national and state lawmakers and others were staunch members of the PDP and committed to the victory of the party in the election.

He said that the APC was sponsoring magnified reports of purported defections and disagreements in the PDP to hoodwink Nigerians and the international community to cover up alleged plot to compromise security.

The governor stressed that the APC had more problems with defections and crisis, as no serious leader of the party was supporting the governorship campaign rallies of the APC and its candidate.

He noted that the APC was further factionalised by the multiple post primary litigations by aggrieved leaders of the party, with grave implications on the acceptability of the candidate even within the party.

By James Azania, Lokoja

The Director General of the Kogi All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council, Senator Smart Adeyemi, has hailed the people of Kogi East Senatorial District for their support for the re-election bid of Governor Yahaya Bello (GYB).

Adeyemi, who spoke at the weekend in Idah, on the sidelines of the launch of the APC campaigns, praised them for the large turnout at the rally.

He said with the show of love from the people, it is clear that the party will win nothing less than 70 per cent of the votes from the senatorial district on November 16.

Adeyemi said: “The people of Kogi East are wonderful people. This outcome today is quite overwhelming. You cannot compare it to the show of shame of Friday PDP launch of the campaign, where they battled hardly to get 5,000 people into the 25,000 sitting capacity stadium.

Read Also: Large turnout at Kogi excites PDP

“The crowd today in the eastern flank underscore the acceptability of the governor across ethnic divides. It shows that the east appreciate the governor, and it demonstrates further that GYB is super comfortable for the poll.

“The opposition will battle to get 25 per cent of the eastern votes, because the APC will easily win 70 per cent of the votes.

“We commend the east for their solidarity, love and support. They patiently stayed since morning. I feel like not leaving this town today. This is just too overwhelming. I’m short of words to show my appreciation to the eastern people.”

He said the outpour of love would ginger the governor to do more during his second term.

“The governor is prepared and capable for the task ahead. He will definitely do more for the people than he did in the past,” he added.

By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

 

The Bayelsa State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief David Lyon, has vowed to develop poverty-stricken oil-rich communities if elected on November 16.

He said he would establish a stronger collaboration between the government, security agencies and local communities to protect and judiciously use the crude oil wealth for the growth and development of the people.

The candidate, in a statement signed by the Secretary, Media and Publicity Committee, Bayelsa APC Campaign Council, Doifie Buokoribo, said the tripod collaboration would help foster speedy development of the oil-rich Niger Delta state.

Addressing the crowd that received him at Egbemo-Angalabiri community in Ekeremor Local Government, Lyon said the people still lived in penury because the Dickson-led administration failed to protect and invest the common wealth of the people in profit generating projects.

He said that the level of development in the communities did not reflect the true nature of the contributions they put into the wealth and growth of Nigeria as oil producing areas.

Lyon promised that when elected, he would protect the crude oil wealth of the state from pipeline vandals and crude oil thieves. Explaining further when his campaign team visited Peretorugbene and Toru-Ndoro communities, he vowed to ensure that all local communities were captured in the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) of multinational oil corporations operating in the area.

He said when he served as the youth leader of his community, Olugbobiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government in 1995, he was the first youth leader to sign a GMoU with a multinational oil corporation to secure contracts and jobs for youths, adding that the leadership of youth groups across the state could emulate him.

Lyon said that only when job opportunities were created to ensure that young people were self-reliant that the crude oil resources of Nigeria could be safe.

He said that creating job opportunities became more imperative to sustain peace and stability of the state, and above all prepare a better and prosperous future of generation of Bayelsans yet unborn.

Read Also: We lack basic amenities in Bayelsa, says Lyon

He said that while he was traversing communities to seek the support of the electorate in a responsible manner, his main aim was to also use the opportunity to meet and find out the teething challenges of the people ahead of the governorship poll.

Reiterating his commitment to develop the state when elected as governor, Lyon said he was not only overwhelmed by the love Ekeremor people had demonstrated for him and the APC, but was also marvelled by the level of preparedness of the people of the area to exercise and protect their franchise for the APC.

Interacting with the chiefs and people of the communities, the APC candidate thanked them for their show of courage as flood continues to ravage many communities in Ekeremor.

He said he has no doubt that the people will give his party bloc votes with the same courage on November 16.

Assuring them of his readiness to impact more on their lives, immediately after being sworn in as governor, Lyon promised to complete the Sagbama-Ekeremor Road and begin work at the abandoned Agge Seaport project, which he said has the capacity to provide employment for thousands of Bayelsans.

He said: “As oil producing communities, you deserve more than the hardship the state government has exposed you to. I understand your condition because my community suffers the same fate. In other words, I am on the same page with you in this struggle.

“If we live in a state where only the right people are elected into office, communities like yours should be enjoying better roads, schools, health facilities and potable water. This time I expect you to do the right thing by voting for the APC to ensure that we change the narrative.

“When I become governor, I will create more jobs for your people. I will link your communities with the outside world through roads. I will build befitting hospitals for you. I will provide better and sustainable educational system for your children. The time to protect and spend our crude oil wealth judiciously has come.”

Receiving 150 defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the APC at Ekeremor town, the Chairman of the APC in the state, Jothan Amos, said the mood in the state showed that the people were fed up with the PDP-led government.

In the communities visited, the people hailed him for employing thousands of youths through his oil and gas surveillance contract and assured him of their preparedness to work for the victory of APC in the forthcoming election.

People from communities in the area endorsed the APC as the campaign tour climaxed with a mega rally in Aleibiri community, the home town of former speaker and deputy governor, Peremobowei Ebebi, where a crowd gathered to cheer and receive the campaign team despite the rains.

Speaking at the rally, Ebebi said Lyon has given youths employment opportunities, adding that he is confident that when he becomes the governor, the rate of unemployment in the area will drop.

“I know David Lyon very well. He is a proven leader that has empowered and employed our youths with his position as a pipeline surveillance contractor. A man with that kind of track record I am sure will do far better if he becomes governor.

“For the last seven and a half years that we have supported the PDP-led government, what have we gained? They said they are constructing road to Ekeremor. That road is still far from being completed, and in five months they will be leaving office. What then can we say is our benefit?” he said.

The campaign team visited Egbemo-Angalabiri, Peretorugbene, Isampou, Toru-Ndoro, Aleibiri and Ekeremor where monarchs and chiefs gave the team their blessings and support.

By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

 

Southern Ijaw, the biggest local government in Bayelsa State and home to the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief David Lyon, has promised to support the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Douye Diri.

The people, who came out en masse to receive Diri and his running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewrujakpor, said the PDP candidate had the capacity to govern the state.

They blamed the APC for the crisis that rocked the area during the last National Assembly election, which resulted in the death of one of the PDP leaders and the Government House photographer, Reginald Dei.

The PDP governorship campaign train was assured by the people during the rallies held at Korokose, Ekowe and Oporoma communities of bloc votes.

Addressing the crowd in Oporoma, the Southern Ijaw Local Government headquarters, a former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Friday Kombowei Benson, said there would be no negotiation of votes with other parties in the area.

Read Also: INEC sets up peace advancing activities for Kogi, Bayelsa elections

He said Southern Ijaw Council had benefited immensely from the Restoration Government and the PDP.

The state Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Cleopas Moses, said the APC lacked the presence to win any election in the state.

He accused the APC of violence and brigandage, claiming that the party was not prepared for the coming poll.

Moses alleged that the APC was planning to secure victory through the back door in connivance with the agencies of the Federal Government.

Ewhrudjakpo blamed the APC for impoverishing the country, saying the nation was not named the poverty capital of the world when the PDP was at the helm.

He said the exchange rate was nothing to write home about, while the prices of foodstuffs, especially rice, are experiencing a geometric increase.

Soliciting the support of the electorate from Southern Ijaw, Diri said he would ensure the completion of Yenagoa/ Oporoma Road started by the Restoration Government.