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Tag: Bayelsa

  • INEC schedules CVR in Kogi, Bayelsa

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is to conduct Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Kogi and Bayelsa States from 2nd to 7th September, 2015.
     
    The exercise is coming ‎ahead of the governorship election in the two States scheduled for 21st November and 5th December, 2015,
    The five-day exercise will afford an opportunity for three groups of eligible registrants to register in order to vote:
    ·      Those who were eligible but did not register before the 2015 General Elections;
    ·      Those who are eligible but whose names are not in the Voters’ Register, and
    ·      Those who have attained the age of eighteen (18) years since the last Voter Registration exercise.
    ·
    The CVR exercise will take place at the Local Government Area (LGA) level. It will also commence daily (during the scheduled five days of the exercise) from 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
    On Friday last week, the Commission addressed stakeholders in Lokoja, Kogi state, urging prospective registrants to turn out in large numbers and to take advantage of the exercise to register in order to vote.  A similar stakeholders’ forum will be held on Thursday 27th, August, 2017 at Yenegoa, Bayelsa State.
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  • Bayelsa PDP senator regrets members’ defection

    Bayelsa PDP senator regrets members’ defection

    The senator representing Bayelsa Central in the National Assembly, Emmanuel Paulker, yesterday regretted the defection of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) heavyweights to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Paulker said he was not comfortable that top PDP members were defecting to the APC ahead of the December 5 governorship election.

    Addressing reporters in Yenagoa, the state capital, during his thanksgiving, the third-term senator expressed worry about developments in the state’s PDP.

    He recalled that a similar crisis at the centre was among the reasons the PDP lost the presidential election.

    Paulker said the exit of five PDP governors to the APC created confusion that unsettled the then ruling party before the last general elections.

    He said: “As a politician, definitely I am not comfortable, especially as regard the people that left my party, the PDP. I am not comfortable. When you have been bitten by a snake, you will jump when you see a lizard cross your path.

    “I am saying this because of my knowledge of what happened to us at the centre. It began with the exit of five governors and it took quite some time to pull ourselves together. Before we got ourselves back, the election was around the corner. You all know what happened; it is history now.”

    Paulker said the PDP was making moves to bring back the defectors, adding that he still remained a PDP member.

    The senator said he was consulting on his governorship ambition, which he would soon make public.

    He said his ambition should not cause trouble to anybody since as a citizen and a party member he has the right to pursue his political aspirations.

    Paulker said: “Every qualified person is free to contest. I have had calls from many groups asking me to contest the election. But at the appropriate time, I will make my intentions known.”

    The senator denied a rift with Governor Seriake Dickson.

    According to him, he has never castigated the governor for any reason.

  • Broom revolution in Bayelsa

    Broom revolution in Bayelsa

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) is enlarging its coast in Bayelsa State. Ahead of the governorship election, prominent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains have defected to the opposition party. Will the APC displace the PDP at the poll? Correspondent MIKE ODIEGWU examines the implications of the gale of defections for the parties.

    It was the mother of all rallies. The Bayelsa State All Progressive Congress (APC) make a point at the rally in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State. Indeed, it was unprecedented in the history of the state. Not even last year’s campaign visit of President Muhammadu Buhari, who was the presidential candidate of APC, could be compared to the carnival-like event that was held at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, Yenagoa.

    The complex and its surroundings were congested with party faithful. People shoved and elbowed one another to catch a glimpse of the event. In fact, there was no space. It was as if residents were bitten by the bug of change. They trekked some kilometers to the venue.

    The enthusiasm was, no doubt, high. Broom, the symbol of the APC, was not in short supply.

    Without fear of intimidation, the onlookers and party members freely echoed change, the slogan of the party. The crowd said Dickson should go on December 5 when the governorship election takes place.

    Musicians kept them busy. The Odi-born artiste, Timaya, led Maleke, Face and other singers to the arena. There was no dull moment. Campaign materials of the APC littered the sports complex. Youths seized the opportunity to drum support for their preferred governorship aspirants. In fact, different political groups were on parade.

    It was not just an ordinary rally. It was a mega defection carnival designed to welcome heavyweights from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

    The party held two rallies to receive members of the PDP. First was the event organised to welcome Chief Dikivie Ikiogha, a former Chief of Staff in Dickson’s administration and an associate of former President Goodluck Jonathan. The rally, which took place at Opolo, was the first APC event that rattled the PDP. Ikiogha and his supporters declared for the APC.

    Shortly after Ikiogha’s defection, a two-time member of the House of Assembly, Mr. Warman Ogoriba, also radiated the PDP. Ogoriba decimated the PDP, taking along with him some founding members and past political office holders to the APC.

    But, last Saturday’s rally shook the foundation of the PDP. It was, undoubtedly, a mass exodus from a ruling party to the opposition.

    To underscore the importance of the event, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC relocated to Yenagoa to receive the defectors. The National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, led other members of the NWC to the rally. The Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Chief Olusegun Oni, the party’s vice-chairmen, South-South, South-East and North-East; the National Deputy Publicity Secretary, Mr. Timi Frank, and the National Organising Secretary, Osita Ozinaso, witnessed the ceremony.

    Former Governor Chief Timipre Sylva and members of the State Working Committee (SWC), led by the Chairman, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe, were at the event.

    PDP stalwarts, who led other members of their old party to APC are Timi Alaibe, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, former acting governors, Chief Werinipre Sebarugu and Chief Nestor Binabo; Senator John Brambraifa, Maj. Andrew Oputa (retd), Christopher Milky, Alex Ekiotene, Christopher Enai, Dr. Stella Dorgu and Mathew Karimu.

     

    PDP chair defects to APC

    The most thrilling aspect of the mega rally was the defection of the state Chairman of the PDP to the APC. It was gathered that Inokoba made up his mind to dump a party he chaired for over three years after the leader of the APC, Sylva, led a powerful delegation of APC members to his residence in Yenagoa.

    The decision of Inokoba to join the broom party was an indication that the crisis in the PDP has deepened, despite efforts by its National Working Committee and  former President Goodluck Jonathan to resolve it.

    The crisis rocking the party worsened when the State Working Committee and politicians loyal to Governor Dickson suspended Inokoba over allegations that he diverted N40million donated for the Presidential campaign of the party.

    Despite the explanations by Inokoba, the SWC insisted that Inokoba must go and asked Chief Serena Dokubo to act as the chairman, a move that was rejected by the NWC.

    The party was further thrown into chaos when the PDP suspended and expelled some leaders of anti-party activities, an action that was described by aggrieved members of the party as illegal.

    The PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) mediated in the dispute on August 1 during a meeting held at Jonathan’s courtyard in Otuoke, Ogbia. It lifted  the suspension and expulsion of some members and ordered the party to revert to status quo.

    But, after the parley, the peace move crumbled, following the insistence of a group loyal to Dickson that Inokoba was not among the persons reinstated by the BoT. The anti-Inokoba forces were said to have mounted pressure on the chairman to resign, a development that further led to the formation of the PDP Unity Group by members loyal to Inokoba.

    Inokoba was fed up with the illegality. The former PDP chairman described the rally as a day of decision when defectors decided to take their destiny into their hands. He said they were compelled to take the decision because the governor has completely abandoned the tenets of good governance.

    He said they were driven by the spirit of patriotism, adding that the labour of their founding fathers should not be in vain. Calling for change in the state, he said: “Today, Bayelsa, the glory of all lands, has now become Fuji House of Commotion. The government of restoration has now become a government of retrogression and stagnation.

    “Virtually, in all sectors of our economy. It is unacceptable and of course, ridiculous to have dictatorship being practised in a democratic dispensation in Bayelsa. Instead of the dividends of democracy, we now have the fruits of retrogression, deceit, retardation, lies, corruption, selfishness, hatred, wickedness, disrespect for elders, complete disregard to the rule of law.

    “Our action today is premised on the philosophy to sustain the legacy of our founding fathers for the good of our future generations. Our economy is badly weakened due to corruption, irresponsibility of the present leadership. The spread of abandoned projects, in the face of borrowing by the government has plunged our state into huge debt.

    “They think they own the government, but today, we are here to take over. Since their vision now is lost, time for sentiment in politics is over. We must move to the mainstream, and we must embrace this change. APC is here to heal the wound of Bayelsa and Bayelsans in general. APC will no doubt present a credible, popular and sensible candidate with high leadership pedigree to take Bayelsa to her Eldorado.

    “My people in the 105 Ward in Bayelsa State are crossing over with me to sail afloat. PDP, in Bayelsa today, is bedeviled by  intra-party crises, intimidation, mismanagement, manipulation of the party structure by the leader of the state, and lack of internal democracy.”

    Inokoba went further to list nine reasons why while their dumping PDP was inevitable. He named them as total failure of PDP to deliver its promises and dividends of democracy; primitive and undemocratic ways of piloting the affairs of the party; insensitivity to the plight of its members and government officials and apparent injustice and impunity in the party.

    Others, according to him, are failure of the party leadership to resolve issues in the party promptly and democratically; our desire to associate with fellow nationals and those who have the interest of the nation at heart; our belief in the change commitment, and our desire to change Bayelsa for good; our love for Bayelsa state, to rescue them from their cries and agonies perpetrated by PDP bad governance and our desire to see Bayelsans happy, lift the glory of all lands to her position in the country.

    Inokoba, unconsciously, shouted the PDP slogan, but was immediately corrected. He then, shouted the change slogan in what was referred to as an induction ceremony for him.

     

    Commonsense revolution

    The former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe, made the event colorful. Alaibe, the pioneer Coordinator Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Matters led hundreds of his supporters to declare for the APC.

    The event united Sylva and Alaibe, who hitherto were seen as arch political enemies. Alaibe’s popularity as the candidate of Labour Party for the 2011 general elections was partly the reason why Sylva, the former governor of Bayelsa State, made a costly political mistake of seeking tenure elongation along with other four governors. Their temporary victory at the lower court was botched by the Supreme Court judgment, which sacked them and caused Sylva his reelection.

    The grand rally for the first time in a long while brought the two “Timis” together. Alaibe fondly referred to Sylva as the stage leader of APC. Adopting the words of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he described the event of the day as a commonsense revolution. He declared that change has come to Bayelsa.

    But, he said: “When you say change, it is not because you want to change for the sake of it. People say change is constant, but, it is not for the sake of it. We are changing from poverty to prosperity. We are hanging from intimidation, deceit, manipulation, ‘wayo’.

    “A state as strong as Bayelsa State, an oil-producing state, cannot tolerate poverty. Poverty is not our portion. But, all around the streets of Yenagoa and Bayelsa is poverty. ‘Abi dem curse us?’ How can we produce oil and not benefit from the proceeds by way of good schools, scholarship? Our children are abroad, scholarships are not made available. ‘Abi I talk lie?’ Children in schools have no desk ad benches. ‘Na so we take give them power before?’

    “All that must stop, because change has come to Bayelsa state. I want to make it clear today that, all the leaders gathered here today signify the grassroot politics of Bayelsa state; the politics of Bayelsa state is changing to the APC under leadership of Chief Timipre Sylva, who is the leader of the state.

    “We believe that February 28 is a forgotten story. So, Creek Haven is our portion. We will sweep them away. Sweep PDP away”.

     

    December 5 as judgment day

    Senator Heineken Lokpobiri was known as one of the loudest voices of the Southsouth in the Senate. A grassroot politician, Lokpobiri’s dream to return to the National Assembly as a ranking senator was frustrated by the PDP.

    He aligned himself with the remarks of Inokoba. But he added that the PDP in the state was dead and its burial date fixed for December 5, 2015. His forceful speech was interrupted by cheers from the crowd.

    He said: “I want to say that the immediate chairman of PDP who just defected, his tenure and office just ended two minutes ago when he decamped here from PDP to APC. His speech contained everything anybody could say here.

    “But, I want to say that PDP is dead today. And, the burial date is 5th of December 2015. Let me make this point very clear: it is individuals that make a party, not a party making individuals. We that are defecting today are those who made the PDP, and today we have killed the PDP, and we have also fixed the burial date which is the 5th of December.

    “When somebody dies, he does not wake up; only Christ that died and rose up again. When somebody dies, he is buried. PDP is dead today; we have bought the coffin; we have fixed the burial date, we will dance ‘Owugiri’ on the 5th, and bury PDP finally, so that Bayelsa can be part of the change that is going on generally”.

     

    Grievances

    Chief Lionel Jonathan Omo, an industrialist and close associate of Sylva also led his supporters to declare for the APC. He accused the Dickson-led administration of lacking vision. He said Dickson and his PDP have o idea of how to take the people of the state to Paradise.

    “If today, Bayelsa state is in the throes of poverty, economic stagnation and neglect, it is because the leadership is bereft of vision. They don’t know how to carry the people into the Promised Land. That is why poverty is looming large; that is why you are not employed. It is because the man at the head does not have a vision that he will package our contract and give it to Hausa contractors.

    “Where are the contractors of Bayelsa origin? And when you are led by a people without vision, you are bound to perish. But before you perish, you have the capacity to liberate yourself. You can only liberate yourself by voting out this present administration.

    “As I was coming, I looked up two words in the dictionary. One is ‘kakistocracy’, which means, ‘a government of the worst’. The other word is ‘kleptocracy’, which means, ‘a government by thieves’. The PDP government is a manifestation of kleptocracy and Kakistocracy.

    “In the middle of all these, there is hope. When Sylva began this movement, people thought that it will not work. But the poet said, ‘God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants His footstep on the sea, and rises upon the storm’.”

     

    No room for emperor in Bayelsa

    Chief Nestor Binabo is one of the pillars of the PDP. He was the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the acting Governor. As the acting governor, he handed over power to Dickson, who incidentally hails from his local government area in Sagbama.

    Binabo recalled how he handed over power to Dickson with the aspiration that Bayelsa would be administered to the benefit of all.

    He said: “But, today, we have not got one dividend of democracy from Seriake Dickson. He decided to make himself an emperor. He has refused to listen. He has refused to be part of us. And today, because he has refused to work together with the Bayelsa people, those who handed government to him, have decided to come over to where Bayelsans will have succour.

    “Today, on behalf of the Sagbama people, we started the move for the death of PDP. We formed the Bayelsa West Political Front, and from that, it metamorphosed to what you see today.

    “We are telling Bayelsans that those of us, the strong politicians who define what happened in Sagbama local government and Ekeremor, mandated me to tell you people that the PDP is no more in Bayelsa West. We will go further to say that PDP is dead today, and wait till when PDP shall be buried in December.”

     

    No going back to PDP

    Surprisingly, Dorgu was among the PDP heavyweights that joined the APC. Dorgu was at the vanguard of the 2011 campaign for Dickson’s re-election. She formed a house-to-house campaign project known as Keme-to-keme that sold the candidacy of Dickson to the people.

    In recognition of her contributions, the governor supported Dorgu for the House of Representatives to fill the seat he abandoned to become the governor. But, the relationship was said to have gone sour after Dickson frustrated her from getting the PDP ticket to return to the National Assembly.

    Addressing the crowd, she said: “I only want you to take this home this little phrase, that is, what we are doing here today represents a paradigm shift in development and growth of Bayelsa state.

    “And, I can tell everybody, the world over that, there will be no summersaulting to the PDP. We have made up our minds; we have come to a place where like minds are operating, and so it is APC forever”.

     

    ‘APC’s prospects’

    The former governor is the foundation of the APC in the state. He was perhaps the only prominent voice of the party during the era of former President Goodluck Jonathan when other voices were subdued out of tribal and regional sentiments. He is no doubt an indisputable leader of the APC in he state.

    So, when he was invited to the stage to address the crowd, the people roared in excitement and addressed him in his fondest titles of Opuabadi and piggaton. Sylva said his joy  was full adding that he was excited to see his brothers and sisters come back to him.

    He said: “Today the APC in Bayelsa state is complete. We have had too many divisions in Bayelsa state, engendered by people who are completely parochial. Today, the time for the unity and peace of Bayelsa has come; we should try to make sure that as we come to this party, we foster peace not only in this party, but in the state.

    “Bayelsa has seen enough acrimony discord and death, and even blood. Under this administration, there have been too many political killings. The deputy clerk of the bayelsa state House of Assembly was murdered brutally. Today we have not heard anything from the investigators.

    “The secretary of the Bayelsa State Electoral Commission was brutally murdered; nothing has been done about it: blood on their hands. The creeks of Bayelsa has become impassable, because sea piracy has taken over our creeks.  Nobody can move around again in our waterways.

    “Bayelsa people love the APC. The prosperity for Bayelsa people has finally come. The time of poverty will go away very soon on December 5. In Abuja, the PDP government has been decapitated at the top. So, the PDP is already dead without a head. In December, we will bury that PDP in Bayelsa State, and then, you will see all the good things that will happen to you.

    “The Brass LNG that was not brought to us by our son will be brought to us; development that was not brought to us will be brought to us; the east/west road that was not completed by our son will be completed.

    “If PDP wants Bayelsa to vote for them, let them, please, point out to me, one road that was constructed in Bayelsa state by the outgone PDP government- the federal government. If they can’t show me one, let them show me half; if they cannot show me one or half road, then tell me, why you and I will support the PDP. That is why you should support APC”

    He thanked the PDP chairman, Alaibe, Chief Werinipre Seibarugu, Binabo, Lokpobiri, Dorgu and many other PDP heavyweights who took the decision to join him in the APC.

    The highpoint of the event was the presentation of brooms, the party’s symbol to some  of the PDP stalwarts who led other members of their old party to APC. Inokoba, Alaibe, Lokpobiri, former acting governors, Chief Sebarugu and Chief Binabo; Senator John Brambraifa, Maj. Andrew Oputa (retd), Christopher Milky, Alex Ekiotene, Christopher Enai, Dr. Stella Dorgu and Mathew Karimu, each received the APC symbol.

     

    Level playing ground

    Oyegun, who was elated at what he described as an earthquake, paid tribute to Sylva through whom he said the ship of APC berthed not just in the state but also in the country. He told the people that they had made history adding that among all the defection rallies he had attended the event of the state was second to none.

    “This is the first time a party is totally decapitated. The chairman of the PDP who represents the head of the party has left and the PDP is now headless. Anybody that is headless cannot survive.

    “We now have former deputy governors, former National Assembly members, former commissioners, former this and former that. Who is left in the PDP? Nobody. The People in Bayelsa is making history for the South South zone”, he said.

    He said the lost of the Presidency was a blessing in disguise because it opened the eyes of the people to see underdevelopment, hunger, poverty, suffering, bad roads and other vices.

    He described the South-South as the powerhouse of the country and said the region could not afford to be left behind in the mainstream politics.

    He said after the December 5 governorship election, the APC will produce more progressive governors  in the region.

    He said with Bayelsa joining mainstream politics, the people will have more roads, more dividends of democracy.

    “The PDP members, who have left to join us today, have found a new home. There is no fear of use and dump,” he said adding that the APC is not a party of share the money but a platform to create prosperity for everybody.

  • Much ado about Bayelsa defections

    I have read with rapt attention media reports of the zigzag defections of some members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to the rival All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa, the home state of the immediate past president of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Curiously, the leadership of the opposition, particularly Chief Timipre Sylva, turned it into a media jamboree. Sylva has been trying, to no avail, to reap political capital from it in preparation for the declaration of his vaulting ambition to return to power after more than four years of his misadventure in the Creek Haven, the state’s seat of government. And the narrative was skewed as if the defection was a one-way traffic, whereas hundreds of politicians from many political parties have also been thronging PDP’s camp in recent times.

    It is interesting to note that over 98 per cent of the defectors are Sylva’s appointees, associates, relatives and people he had used his office as governor to rail-road into the state and national assemblies between 2007 and 2011. Interestingly, almost all of these people did not support the governorship ambition of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson in 2012 when the election held. Instead, they supported Sylva even when it was clear that the then President, Dr. Jonathan, the critical stakeholders, the PDP apparatchik and, of course, majority of the people in the state were backing Dickson.

    Curiously, the names of same people who claimed to have defected to APC since the PDP lost power at the federal level are being bandied week in, week out whenever announcements of defections are carried in the media, making the whole Bayelsa defection a macabre dance! Can one person defect to the same party twice? But I am impressed with the way Governor Dickson handled the defection. Those who do not know the talk na do governor well had expected him to be hostile and deny the opposition the use of public facilities, but Dickson made the Samson Siasia Stadium available to them and provided security for a hitch-free decamping event recently; the same gesture the governor extended to President Muhammadu Buhari when he launched his campaign in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. The reverse was the case in 2011 when Sylva, as governor, denied Buhari the use of the stadium and the general’s campaign was disrupted as hired youths pelted Buhari and his team with stones and sachet water.

    Top amongst the defectors are Hon. Heineken Lokpobri, the immediate past senator representing Bayelsa West; Chief Clever Ikisikpo, former senator representing Jonathan’s (Bayelasa East) between 2011 and 2015; former Chairman of NDDC, Dr. Tarila Tebepah and former Managing Director of NDDC, Chief Timi Alaibe. Others are the Commissioner for Agriculture under Sylva, Chief Dikivie Ikiogha and former House of Reps member representing Yenagoa/Kolokuma/Opokuma Federal Constituency between 2007 and 2015, Hon Warman Ogoriba; two former acting governors of the state, Hon. Nestor Ibinabo and Hon. Werinipre Seibarugu; former Finance Commissioner under Sylva, Mr. Charles Opuala and a host of other aides, appointees and associates of Sylva.

    Indeed, some of these characters were first recruited by the former First Lady to undermine Dickson ahead of the 2015 general election and to prepare the ground for the supplanting of Dickson with her anointed godson, Hon Weripamowei Dudafa, who was Commissioner for Local Government under Sylva and Special Assistant on Domestic Matters to the immediate past president. The defunct Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) under the leadership of Seibarugu became a veritable tool used to blackmail and cow the Dickson administration. They made it look to unsuspecting Nigerians that the governor was not supporting the re-election bid of Jonathan while in actual sense, he was the one leading the charge and taking all the shots fired at the former president!

    Indeed these same people calling for Dickson’s head are not doing anything strange. They are back to a familiar turf. As it was in 2012, so it is now and so it may be on December 5 when we shall all cast our vote and respect the majesty of the ballot box! What is, however, strange is that all the defectors want to be governor in December, making analysts to dub APC in Bayelsa as a party of serial governorship aspirants without membership! After three and a half years of Dickson’s administration, one would have expected these defectors to shift ground and come on board the restoration train. More so that Dickson has consistently patronised and extended the olive branch to them.

    Curiously, Alaibe, Tebepah, Ikiogha and all the former NASS members dumping the PDP are big time contractors in Dickson’s government. Yet they accuse the governor of not empowering them. Similarly, pundits had thought that since the thrifty Countryman Governor has delivered on his campaign promises by running the state in the fear of God, turning the state into a huge construction site, restoring peace to the hitherto volatile Bayelsa and providing purposeful, transparent and accountable leadership to the people, those jumping the ship would remain with Dickson to consolidate the gains recorded so far. That didn’t happen understandably because the defection is not about the well-being of the people, the development of Bayelsa State and the Ijaw nation; all that matter to the defectors is their self aggrandisement. Chief Richard Kpodo, factional chairman of APC in Bayelsa State, offered an insider perspective as to why some politicians were joining the ruling party when he said they were corrupt politicians who wanted to evade prosecution by the federal government of President Buhari!

    Information in the public domain shows that their grouse with Governor Dickson is that he has refused to loot or share public funds with anybody; a virtue that has earned the governor national and international recognitions, which the enemies believe must be cut down by stopping his re-election. A few of them also beef the governor for embarking on the ambitious first ever free and compulsory education programme and the social security scheme for the aged in Bayelsa State. They believe the money that should have been ordinarily shared among the elites is being channeled to the servicing of the lofty programmes, but the governor remained unshaken!

    In his recent media chat in Yenagoa, the state capital, Chief DSP Alameiyesiegha, first elected governor of Bayelsa State and Chairman of the PDP elders Committee/ Reconciliation Committee in the state, corroborated the above assertion mildly. He said: “As chairman of the Reconciliation Committee, we have invited so many people (defectors)… We dialogued with them and most of them saw reasons with us. The whole thing (defection) is about self-interest. Their grievances range from not being given appointments to not receiving their severance allowances during Timipre Sylva administration, or because they were not picked as candidates in the last general election. And I asked the question: must it always be you?”

    However, the cheering news, according to Alameiyesiegha, fondly called the Governor General of the Ijaw Nation, is that many of these ‘aggrieved’ politicians will return to PDP before the governorship election already slated for December 5 because, according to him, APC has no place in Ijaw land and Bayelsa in particular. He also expressed confidence that Dickson will be re-elected, declaring; “Governor Dickson has done well. What I have seen on ground in the last three years is very encouraging…”

    For the PDP and Governor Dickson, the so called defection to APC makes little or no difference to the strength and spread of the party in Bayelsa State. Yes, the PDP has lost out at the centre but in Bayelsa and many Niger Delta states, the party waxes stronger and remains a winning behemoth. Apart from the weighty voice of the Governor-General, the mainstream women and youth groups in the state, the clergy and Ijaw elders in Bayelsa have condemned the defection of some PDP members to APC, many of whom were aides, appointees and associates of Sylva. They are leading the movement for the re-election of Governor Dickson. Tagged Operation Retain Dickson in Creek Haven, the groups insist they must re-elect Dickson in government house to reward him for his hard work, vision and selfless service to fatherland.

    At separate events, these groups endorsed the re-election of Dickson. The elders for example, under the auspices of Bayelsa Elders Consultative Council, condemned the APC for perpetrating “falsehood” in the state. They also lambasted the PDP politicians that defected to the APC, describing them as shame to the Ijaw nation. The group, which is led by a PDP chieftain, Chief Francis Duokpola, wondered why a party that controversially wrested power from Jonathan would be embraced by desperate politicians whom they describe as self-seeking. They vowed to stop APC from gaining root in Bayelsa State even as they declared, “The APC has declared war on the Ijaw nation. Right from the days of our forefathers, the Ijaws have never been conquered and our generation cannot be conquered by APC!” The APC may be enjoying a synthesis of membership now, which will definitely lead to antithesis after a flag bearer emerges, and eventual implosion before the December 5 polls.

    For sure, the evidence on ground doesn’t indicate that the APC will defeat the PDP. Already the PDP produced 105 councillors and the eight council chairmen, controls the 24-man state House of Assembly with 21 members and produced all members of the National Assemblies! And with a litany of over 500 government appointees and strong PDP structure, it will take a camel to pass through the eye of a needle for APC to sack PDP from Creek Haven.

    Aside these advantages, if Governor Dickson declares for second term, he will be banking on the people and his landmark achievements in office to retain his plum job. But it won’t be a bad idea for the Alameiyesiegha committee to bring back the obviously repentant defectors to the PDP family.

     

    • Francis Agbo, a journalist lives in Yenagoa and wrote in via francisagbo38@gmail.com
  • Workers picket electricity company in Bayelsa

    Workers picket electricity company in Bayelsa

    Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) Thursday picketed the office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    Scores of officials of labour unions stormed the premises of the PHED located along the Opolo axis of the Mbiama-Yenagoa Road in the morning and barricaded it.

    They locked the gates of the company and prevented people including employees of PHEDC from entering and leaving the office.

    They carried placards with inscriptions such as “PHED stop intimidation and slavery”, “Freedom of Association should not be denied staff”, “We want a stop to institutionalized casual contract appointment in PHED”, and “Workers of PHED should be treated as responsible people”, were placed on the gates.

    The factional Chairman of NLC in the state, Mr. Fred Oruseibo, listed arbitrary dismissal and termination of appointments of employees without cogent reasons as part of the grievances of the workers.

    Oruseibo who is also State Chairman of NUEE also said the company had deliberately refused to negotiate its procedural agreement and conditions of service of staff with labour.

    He said: “The most annoying part is that most of their workers are casuals. We all know that casualisation of workers is against the convention of the International Labour Organisation and against Nigerian labour laws and they refuse to negotiate the conditions of service with the staff. They did that in order to enslave the workers.

    “Again, not too long ago when they came and bought the company, they inherited staff that has been working in the company and about thirty-three operators were sacked.

    “These operators were on a salary scale of about N100, 000 to N150, 000 in a month, but they contracted their jobs to contractors who are now offering to pay N20, 000 and N30, 000.The workers refused and because of that they were sacked without any cogent reason.”

    NUEE in a letter dated July 23, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the PHED to review casualization and contract appointment of workers as well as recall sacked employees or face picketing of its business premises.

    Efforts to reach the company’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jonah Ibomah, proved abortive as his phone rang out.

  • Why Alaibe, others dumped PDP, by Bayelsa group

    Fresh facts have emerged on the defection of a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Ndutimi Alaibe, with Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Col. Sam Inokoba (retd) and others to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    A socio-political group, Bayelsa for Good Governance (BGG), claimed that the erstwhile Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members defected to APC to “escape” Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrest.

    In a statement by its chairman, Mr. Perefini Ebiye, BGG said the EFCC was beaming its searchlight on Alaibe as a former NDDC chief; Lokpobori, as a former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports and Col. Inokoba (retd.), as the former Chairman of Bayelsa State PDP.

    The statement said the EFCC, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s zero tolerance for corruption, was investigating the activities of some of the defectors when they were in office.

    It noted that if found culpable, they may be charged to court.

    The group said it was the danger the former PDP members saw ahead that compelled them to defect to APC, to escape arrest by the anti-graft agency.

    Apparently rattled by the decision of the politicians to dump the PDP, the group said it saw an implosion in Bayelsa State APC, as also predicted by political pundits.

    The PDP had said the Transition Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), which former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan allegedly floated, was set to dislodge the APC faction, led by former Governor Timpere Sylva, from picking the governorship ticket.

  • Pipeline eruption: Bayelsa pleads for help

    The government of Bayelsa State has appealed for the Federal Government’s intervention to check frequent oil pipeline explosions in the Niger Delta.

    Commissioner for Environment Mr Iniruo Wills, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), regretted that the explosions had caused the death of many.

    Wills said the Federal Government should “declare a state of emergency” and take urgent steps to stem the tide.

    His call was sequel to the July 9 pipeline explosion at the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) oil field in Azuzuama, Southern Ijaw Local Government.

    His words: “It is high time a state of emergency was declared on the environment of Bayelsa State and the entire Niger Delta to save the people’s lives and our future.

    “For the people of Bayelsa, and especially, the families of the victims and workers of the Ministry of Environment, July 2015 will go down as the month of death.

    “The victims included an officer, each of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and the Ministry of Environment.

    “We are grieving, but we must also insist that it is time to take decisive action to stop this hazard. It has become a routine threat to the people.”

    The commissioner said the state government would compensate the affected people and investigate circumstances surrounding the incident.

    Wills assured the people that the culprits would pay adequate compensation for their negligence.

  • Bayelsa PDP Chairman, leaders join APC

    Over 2000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) publicly renounced their membership of the party in Bayelsa state, home of former President Goodluck Jonathan and declared for the All Progressive Congress (APC) before a mammoth crowd.

    A surprise package, which excited the enthused crowd that witnessed the historic defections at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex Yenagoa, was the unveiling of the state Chairman of PDP, Col. Sam Inokoba (retd) as a member of the APC.

    The state, especially Yenagoa, the capital, was locked down as most residents abandoned their homes and trekked to the stadium to partake in the carnival-like event.

    The stadium and its surroundings were filled with party faithful who shoved and elbowed one another to catch a glimpse of the event.

    The entire place echoed with the slogans of “change” and “sai Buhari” by party enthusiasts who generously clinched their brooms, the symbol of the APC.

    Though the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, was not at the occasion, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC led by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, was fully represented.

    A former Governor of the state and the state’s leader of APC, Chief Timipre Sylva and members of the State Working Committee (SWC) led by the party’s state Chairman, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe, were also at the event.

    Top PDP leaders, former members of the National Assembly, former commissioners and many other former political office holders took to the stage to give reasons why the dumped the their party for the APC.

    Some of the PDP stalwarts who led other members of their old party to APC are Timi Alaibe, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, former acting governors, Chief Werinipre Sebarugu and Chief Nestor Binabo; Senator John Brambraifa, Maj. Andrew Oputa (retd), Christopher Milky, Alex Ekiotene, Christopher Enai, Dr. Stella Dorgu and Mathew Karimu.

    Oyegun who was elated at what he described as an earthquake, paid tributes to Sylva through whom he said the ship of APC berthed not just in the state but also in the country.

    He told the people that they had made history adding that among all the defection rallies he had attended the event of the state was second to none.

    “This is the first time a party is totally decapitated. The chairman of the PDP who represents the head of the party has left and the PDP is now headless. Anybody that is headless cannot survive.

    “We now have former deputy governors, former National Assembly members, former commissioners, former this and former that. Who is left in the PDP? Nobody. The People in Bayelsa is making history for the South South zone”, he said.

    He said the lost of the Presidency was a blessing in disguise because it opened the eyes of the people to see underdevelopment, hunger, poverty, suffering, bad roads and other vices.

    He described the South-South as the powerhouse of the country and said the region could not afford to be left behind in the mainstream politics.

    He said after the December 5 governorship election, the APC will produce more progressive governors  in the region. He said with Bayelsa joining mainstream politics the people will have more roads, more dividends of democracy.

    “The PDP members who have left to join us today have found a new home. There is no fear of use and dump”, he said adding that the APC is not a party of share the money but a platform to create prosperity for everybody. Sylva on his part, said the coming together of his brothers and sisters had brought full joy to his heart describing APC as a complete party.

    “The time for the unity and peace of Bayelsa has come. We need to foster peace in the party and the state because Bayelsa has seen enough division”, he said. Citing examples of political killings in the state, he said the administration of Governor Seriake Dickson has failed the people.

    “There has been too many political killings under this administration. They have blood on their hands. The creeks of Bayelsa has become impassable. Nobody can mojo veg because the government has completely failed”, he said.

    He said all the developmental projects that their kinsmen refused to bring to them will be brought to them through the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He thanked Timi Alaibe, Chief Dikivie Ikiogha, Seibarugu, Binabo, Lokpobiri and Jonathan Omu for joining him in the APC. Speaking at the event, Alaibe, said the defection of notable members of the PDP showed the needed change in the state, “This is common sense revolution. It is not change for the sake of it. We are changing from poverty to prosperity. We are changing from lies and deceit. We are changing from “Wayo”.

    “A state as rich as Bayelsa cannot tolerate poverty. It is not our portion to be in poverty. How can one provide oil and gas and not benefit from it? Change has come to Bayelsa”, he said.

  • Osinbajo, Oyegun hit Bayelsa for APC mega rally

    Osinbajo, Oyegun hit Bayelsa for APC mega rally

    • Dickson pledges adequate security
    • Approves venue

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) is waiting with excitement to receive the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo and the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in a first mega rally of the party, scheduled to hold today in Yenagoa.

    Osibanjo and Odigie-Oyegun, along with other APC governors are expected to receive over 600 PDP defectors at the rally, which will begin the party’s preparations for the December 5 governorship election in the state.

    The state Chairman of the party, Chief Timi Oruminighe, said all was set for the event, which he described as the beginning of APC’s march to the Creek Haven Government House.

    He said everybody in the state is waiting for the rally, adding that the turnout will determine the wide reception of APC in the state.

    He said the party would not depend on federal might to win the forthcoming elections, but would continue to mobilise and convince people to accept the principles of APC.

    Also speaking, a party leader, Prince Preye Aganaba, said residents in the state, groaning and suffering under the PDP government, were ready to receive Osibanjo.

    While welcoming Osibanjo, the national chairman and other national officers of the party, Aganaba urged them to proactively design Programmes and activities to lead the party to victory on December 5.

    He further appealed to the defectors to use their wealth of experience to create a lasting bond between them and founding members.

    He assured the new members of maximum cooperation, and reminded them of the need to strengthen all the platforms of the APC.

    Following the development, Dickson assured the APC in the state of adequate security before, during and after its planned rally.

    The governor, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, also directed the relevant organs of the government to approve the request of the APC and other political parties to use the state-owned Samson Siasia Sports complex and other public facilities for political rallies.

    Dickson said the gesture was in tandem with his commitment to ensuring a level playing ground and peaceful conduct of political activities in the period leading up to the December 5th governorship election in the state.

    Dickson also pledged adequate security for all political rallies and campaigns across the state to ensure that such activities were conducted under peaceful and lawful atmosphere.

    He noted that as the Chief Security Officer of the state, he had a duty to protect the lives and property of the citizenry and ensure that, people go about their legitimate duties, without any form of molestation.

    He said the decision to provide adequate security for all political activities was also to check hoodlums who might want to take advantage of such events to breach the existing peace and security in the state.

    He further explained that his disposition was also to forestall activities of some disgruntled politicians who might capitalize on the situation to create a state of insecurity and paint the government in bad light before Nigerians.

    He warned that acts of indiscipline and unlawful conducts will be dealt with in line

  • Gang up against PDP will fail – Bayelsa elders

    Gang up against PDP will fail – Bayelsa elders

    Elders from Bayelsa State and founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Friday rose from a crucial meeting and declared that the party would surmount its challenges and triumph in the December 5 governorship election.
    The elders, who met particularly to review the ongoing defections of PDP stalwarts to the All Progressive Congress (APC) ahead of the election, said they were not losing sleep over the development.

    One of the elders and PDP founding father, Chief George Fente, said persons who left the PDP and others leaving on Saturday after enjoying all the party’s benefits were ungrateful and selfish.

    Over 70 PDP stalwarts and 500 others will on Saturday join the APC in a rally scheduled to hold at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex.

    But Fente said: “We know very well that some of our members in the PDP are leaving today. Why did they not defect before? They have enjoyed all the benefits in PDP. They have chosen to dump a party that has made them. They are ungrateful.

    “These defectors are political locust and they are gravitating towards an abysmal chasm of destruction. They will implode in APC and they will start running back to PDP. We are still advising them to come back because the umbrella is big enough to accommodate them.”

    Reading the collective position of the elders, the Chairman of the Committee of the Restoration Caucus Chairmen, Chief Thompson Okorotie, said majority of Bayelsans were behind the Governor of the state, Mr. Seriake Dickson.

    “We hear of defection these days even though some of the listed people have denied the claims of the opposition and that shows there is no coherence or totality in their claims.

    “However, we wish to state that those defections will have no impact on our route to success in the forthcoming primaries and the gubernatorial elections,” Okorotie said.

    He said the administration of Dickson has recorded many strides in different sectors of the state economy adding that the governor started his government with a sound blueprint.

    He named the governor’s achievements in road infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, economic investment promotion and housing.

    He said despite the dwindling revenue which had affected all the states, Dickson was still paying salaries of workers.

    Okorotie who noted that the governor has created enabling environment for investment, observed that pockets of criminalities especially kidnapping in the state were politically motivated by evil forces.

    He named other achievements of the governor as attraction of investors to the state; increased economic activities; opening up of rural areas and ongoing efforts by the government to complete mega projects by processing N25 billion loan.

    He said: “it is important that we don’t lose sight of the accountability and transparency policy which the government is running in Bayelsa State. Owing to the governor’s prudence in financial management, Bayelsa State is not only paying workers’ salaries promptly but is also not listed among high profile debtor states.

    “The transparency briefing by the government which gives an account of inflow and outflow and the moneys received from Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) is based on exemplary law, first of its kind in Nigeria which the governor is saying he should be impeached if he does not do so for more than three months.”