I’m At Liberty To Congratulate Tinubu On His Supreme Court Victory Over My Party– Bayelsa Governor Diri

Following speculation on likely defection and condemnation in some quarters as to why he rushed to meet President Bola Tinubu after the Supreme Court had declared him victorious over his party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Bayelsa Governor, Douye Diri, has said he’s at liberty to congratulate the president on his court victory.

Atiku, whose bid to sack Tinubu failed on Thursday was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the February 25 presidential election.

Diri pushed back against what he termed speculation mocking the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva saying he will “have sleepless nights.”

The governor said Sylva stands disqualified from the race and advised Bayelsans not to waste their votes by voting for him on November 11.

Recall following the decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja that disqualified the former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources for having been sworn in twice as Governor of Bayelsa State, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, delisted the APC candidate from the list of candidates for the November 11 election.

INEC said it took the decision in obedience to the court decision.

Sylva has made an appeal and his party said the court decision will be vacated in time urging that its supporters should remain calm.

But Diri who sounds bullish about his prospect noted that beyond the disqualification handed down on his closest rival, he had performed well to justify being returned as governor.

Speaking at Igbedi community in Constituency 2 of Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the state during the visit of the PDP governorship campaign trail, Diri said he was at liberty to congratulate President Tinubu following the Supreme Court verdict but noted he visited the presidential villa to discuss serious state matters with the president, who he said attended to the issues positively

The governor said he was not disturbed by the speculations and lies of the opposition, who he said became jittery because of the visit, stressing that propaganda had been the hallmark of their politics.

A statement by his spokesperson and member of the Publicity Directorate of the Bayelsa PDP Governorship Campaign Council, Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying, “Yesterday (Thursday), I was in Abuja and most of you saw the video trending. The opposition is now jittery and is telling lies. Of course, that is in their character.

“As a sitting governor, there is a sitting president and I do not owe them any explanation about my visit to the president.

“If the Supreme Court affirms the president of the country, as a sitting governor I reserve all the rights to visit him. But beyond that, I went for very serious state business and I can tell you that Mr. President attended to all the issues I raised.

“Those whose names have been delisted by amendment number one of INEC can no longer sleep. They will continue to have sleepless nights.

“In our second tenure, the other road that will be important to Bayelsa and even the people of Delta State and for the use of our airport will be to connect Igbedi to Kaiama. That will be the next project we will embark upon in our next tenure.”

Also speaking, the wife of the governor, Gloria Diri, who is a native of Igbedi, thanked the people of the community for the rousing welcome accorded her husband and the support given him over the years and urged them not to relent.

Earlier, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Environment, Iselema Gbaranbiri, expressed appreciation to Diri for the administration’s projects in Igbedi and assured him of the total support of the community during the November 11 election.

The governor inaugurated an internal road in the community and also observed a minute of silence in honour of Peremobowei Tukuwei, who died in a tragic boat mishap on Wednesday while the APC campaigned in Nembe Local Government Area.

Tukuwei was the party’s state campaign council media and publicity director.