As election year rolls in, OLAMILEKAN LARTEY writes that there is apprehension about who emerges as the PDP governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, considering the rising tension between President Goodluck Jonathan‘s camp and that of the incumbent governor, Timipre Sylva As the race to the 2011 election gathers momentum in Bayelsa State, all the aspirants are looking forward to President Goodluck Jonathan to give them the nod that would place them ahead of others at the poll. To many of the aspirants, the president‘s assurance of a credible and fair election is enough guarantee that the road to the Creek Haven Government House will be a smooth sail. To others, perceived personal relationship with the president is enough assurance that they can give the incumbent, Chief Timipre Sylva, a run for his money at the poll.
The role of President Jonathan in Bayelsa State is significant for a number of reasons. Jonathan had been a former deputy governor, and later governor of the state, before he became president. The factional crisis in the party had led to the perception that there was friction between the president and governor of his home state. The phantom friction, as it has turned out to be, has been exploited by both factions of the party, until recently. At the peak of the crisis, it was alleged that the faction loyal to the governor, was in control of the party machinery, while the chieftains of the party, who were supposedly loyal to the president had been hounded out of the state.
Popularly referred to as the Abuja politicians, the group comprises the senators and members of the House of Representatives from the state. The factional chairman, Chief Fred Agbedi, and other top shots of the party had remained in Abuja, where they hauled missiles at their Yenagoa-based brothers. The governor‘s faction of the party had remained undaunted. Headed by the boisterous Chief Rufus Abadi, the governor‘s faction had maintained its position that it was firmly on the ground.
Both factions had maintained the stalemate, despite the declaration of the Independent National Electoral Commission that it did not recognise the party executive in the state because it was illegal. The prospect of PDP primaries has put the state on edge because both factions have remained unyielding. The situation has, however, been further complicated by the political aspirations of the chieftains of the party. While Abadi has resigned as party chairman to contest a senatorial seat, Agbedi has emerged as one of the governorship aspirants to slug it out with Sylva.
The new chairman of the party, Chief Dairus Obienne, has insisted that his executive was the authentic one recognised by the national secretariat. He said, ”We have organised by-elections into the state House of Assembly, we conducted free and fair local government elections in the state.”
But, Agbedi counters that an illegal body cannot produce anything legal. According to him, INEC does not recognise any EXCO except his. The stalemate remains. There are no signs that there will be primaries or congresses in the Bayelsa PDP, but the number of aspirants vying for the governorship position rises by the day. At the last count, there were about 13, including Sylva. Whereas Sylva has maintained a studied silence on the situation in the party, others are relying on Jonathan for a credible congress that will produce one of them as the next governorship candidate of the party in the state.
SUNDAY PUNCH investigations revealed that Jonathan had kept a wider berth of the internal wrangling in the party. Our correspondent learnt that the President had told the politicians in the state to go and work with the governor because he was the leader of the party. That indeed might be true because former critics of the governor had become his best friends and panegyrists.
At the impressive ceremony where Sylva went to process his nomination forms to contest the election, the so-called Abuja politicians that had kept a remarkable distance from the governor in the last four years came to give him support and encouragement. Present at the ceremony were confidants of the president such as Senator Emmanual Paulker, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, members of the House of Representatives such as Mr. Warriman Ogoriba and Mr. Seriake Dickson, who had had a running battle with Sylva and the lawmakers in the state. Also present was Mr. Clever Ikisikpo. The high-powered delegation left tongues wagging back home. These were the men the state had relied on to present an opposition to the incumbent. At the PDP ceremony that afternoon, Lokpobiri was quoted as saying that the perceived crisis in the party could only be the result of delusion. He said, ”There is no problem whatsoever among the PDP in the state. If the there was any problem at all, it must have been as a result of misinformation or misconceptions in the minds of the people or a creation of the media.”
Sylva, in the same vein, said the PDP was one family in the state. He said, ”We believe in the unity and oneness of the party. PDP is one and soon you people will begin to hear all the good stories out of Bayelsa.”
The beautiful stories began last week, but not as the newfound friends expected. The entry of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Timi Alaibe, into the governorship race threw a spanner in the scheme of things. SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that some highly placed people in the state had pooled resources to get governorship nomination forms form Alaibe. They then mounted pressure on the former chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission to contest the election because he was the only one who could match Sylva. It was gathered that Alaibe had waited till the last minute to join the governorship fray because he needed the green light from the president.
Truly so, the president holds the aces. A source close to the president told out correspondent that after the ugly incident in Yenagoa on October 22, in which irate youths pelted Sylva with missiles during Jonathan‘s visit to the state, the president had called the governor and advised him that the only route to election victory was hard work.
SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that the president sat Sylva down and told him he had to sit up and work. The president reportedly told Sylva that he did not want problem from his home state, since he was running for president too.
Sylva was said to have agreed to work hard. The president‘s advice is responsible for the wave of development activities in the state and Sylva‘s closer relationship with the citizens of the state. Sylva, at an interactive forum with citizens of the state, admitted that his government had not been close enough to the people. He promised that things would change, and indeed they have been.
Investigations revealed that despite the large number of PDP governorship aspirants, Sylva might swing the primaries if and when it is held because of his rising profile and determination to succeed and prove his critics wrong. Truly so, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Nathan Egba, said Sylva was comfortable because his achievements in the various sectors would speak for him. Egba confirmed that there had been no friction whatsoever between Sylva and the president. He said, ”It has only been in the imagination of the mischief makers. They were calculating that the EXCO would be dissolved, most of the aspirants, you see, are fronts for only one person. They have been operating on public funds.”
Indeed, investigations revealed that since the primaries would be determined by delegates‘ election, with the state EXCO under the governor, and local government under the governor, the only thing left is the state delegates which all the aspirants would share. But the aspirants have called on the President to ensure that the primaries were free and fair.
One of the leading aspirants, Dr. Imoro Kubor, OON, said ”I believe the leaders of the PDP are honourable. They have promised us a free and fair election and we want that. If that does not happen, and there is no free and fair election, we may be begin to look at other parties.”
Source:punchng.com
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