The Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has accused his opponent in the All Progressives Congress, APC, Timipre Sylva, of working tirelessly to ensure President Bola Tinubu did not appoint former Senator, Heineken Lokpobiri, a minister.
Lokpobiri is the Minister for State Petroleum Resources (oil) and was a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, under which platform Diri is seeking reelection.
The Minister and the former governorship candidate of the APC, David Lyon, are reportedly not in support of Sylva’s ambition, which is hanging in the balance following a decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja that disqualified the APC candidate.
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Lyon, who lost out in the race for the APC governorship candidate to Sylva ahead of the November 11 won the election four years ago but was sacked from office on the eve of his inauguration as governor by the supreme court concerning identity fraud of his deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo.
He alongside Lokpobiri is reportedly rooting for Diri’s second tenure in order to pave the way for them in 2027.
Both have rejected the claims even though they have not indicated their readiness to join Sylva’s campaign and have not endorsed him either.
Sylva’s campaign appears to be in tatters as he’s been unable to vacate the lower court decision. The party has postponed its inauguration of the governorship campaign committee with 19 days until the election.
Diri reinforced the seeming crack in the APC over the weekend during the continuation of his campaign when he said Sylva opposed Lokpobiri’s nomination as governor to pave way for his anointed nominee.
A statement by Daniel Alabrah, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor and Member of, Publicity Directorate, Bayelsa PDP Governorship Campaign Council, said the governor made the allegation at Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state as he continued his reelection campaign.
The statement read in part, “Commenting on the disqualified governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, the Bayelsa governor, who is maternally from Ayamasa, recalled how Sylva treated two prominent sons of Ekeremor, namely Peremobowei Ebebi, whom he removed as his deputy governor, and also tried to stop Senator Heineken Lokpobiri’s ministerial nomination.”
Ebebi is also an APC member.
The statement quoted the governor as saying, “Sylva removed our son, Ebebi. He also did not want our son, Lokpobiri, to be minister.
“He said it should be on hold so that when he fails he can have it. But thank God, today we have Lokpobiri as minister.
“Sylva does not deserve any vote from Ekeremor after his atrocities against people of the area.
“Sylva has been rejected by people of the state and even the court has said he is not qualified to be on the ballot.”
Speaking of his agenda for the next four years if he is reelected, the governor promised to provide more developmental projects in the area.
Governor has stepped up his campaign as his team visited 14 communities in the three Ekeremor constituencies in three days.
They visited the riverine communities of Tamogbene, Peretorugbene, Ndoro and Ekeremor main town, the local government headquarters.
The governor equally visited the riverine communities of Egbemo-Angalabiri, Ogbotobo, Aghoro and Agge, which is at the tip of the Atlantic Ocean as well as Lalagbene, Isampou, Aleibiri and Ayamasa.
He inaugurated a pavilion at Ekeremor town, a landing jetty at Ogbotobo, a concrete bridge at Lalagbene, internal roads at Aleibiri and Ayamasa as well as a newly built technical college also at Ayamasa.
Diri recalled how he promised that he would complete the 42.2km Sagbama-Ekeremor road, and expressed gratitude to God that he was able to deliver on the project in less than four years in office according to the statement.
He said his performance in the local government stood him out as the candidate to get the support of people of the area in the November 11 governorship election.
He cited the shore protection project at Ekeremor town and internal road projects among others as some of his administration’s achievements in the area.
At Aghoro, Diri said the proposed Ekeremor-Agge road would connect the community while at Egbemo-Angalabiri, he assured that the road from Toru-Ebeni would be in the 2024 budget.
Similarly, at Tamogbene, Peretorugbene and Ndoro, he thanked the people for their support and pledged not to let them down when re-elected.
“What we have done in Ekeremor is campaigning for us. The roads, pavilion, shore protection, brand new technical college and more are all campaigning for us; unlike those on the other side that did not do anything during their time in office.
“I promised to complete the Sagbama-Ekeremor road during my campaign in 2019 and I delivered.
“I promise Aghoro people that the day we inaugurate the Sagbama-Ekeremor road, we will flag off the Ekeremor-Agge road and take over the construction of internal roads,” the governor said.
While inaugurating the newly built technical college at Ayamasa, the governor said it was in line with his administration’s policy shift to focus on vocational, technical and science education.
He noted that the technical colleges being built by his administration across the eight local government areas would serve as the nucleus for the polytechnic at Aleibiri, which he said would add value to development of the community and the state.
In his remarks, Director-General of the PDP Governorship Campaign Council, Chief Mitema Obordor, who is the House of Representatives member for the Ogbia Federal Constituency, appealed to people of Ekeremor to dedicate November 11 to their son, Governor Diri, vote en masse for him and defend their votes, promising that he will do a lot more for them in his second tenure.
Also, Senator James Manager said Ijaws from all over Nigeria support the second term bid of Governor Diri.
Manager said he led over 150 Ijaw political leaders from Delta State to drum up support for the Bayelsa governor, saying it was the first time this was happening in Ijaw Land.
More than 500 persons reportedly defected from the APC to PDP at the various rallies and were received by the state chairman, Chief Solomon Agwana.