Many reasons have trailed the loss of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in last Saturday’s governorship election in Bayelsa state.
Bayelsa is a core PDP state and since its creation, this is the first time another political party has won the governorship election in the place.
The events that unfolded before the gubernatorial election had indicated a serious division in the ranks of the opposition party in the state.
While political watchers who are conversant with Bayelsa politics have adduced that the woeful loss by PDP is not unconnected with the overstretched political ambition of Governor Seriake Dickson, others said the ousting of PDP was a deliberate display of the grievances of the people of the state over the mis-governance of the incumbent government.
Until now, the opposition APC had never succeeded in its quest to rule the state. The party, it was gathered, knew very well that it lacked political structures to dislodge the PDP.
However, there is strong belief that the loss of PDP is not far from the alleged anger of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was said to have got infuriated due to his reported undermining by governor Dickson.
It was said that Jonathan simply turned the table to show to those who took his political simplicity for granted to learn a bitter lesson. Yet, since the political campaigns started, Jonathan was not seen to have worked against his party and Dickson.
But it was alleged that outgoing Governor Seriake Dickson, in his personal desire to plant a successor and at the same time secure senatorial ticket, had hijacked the PDP’s structures and in the process side-lined the former president and his allies.
Also, it was said that Dickson singlehandedly tipped the party’s candidate and at the same time tampered with the long standing zoning arrangement between the three senatorial zones in the state.
This, apart from party stakeholders who are ardently loyal to Jonathan, the wife of the former President was obviously peeved by Dickson’s display of disloyalty and was said to have worked in favour of the APC candidate.
The Minister of State for Petroleum and former Bayelsa governor, Timipre Sylva’s factor was also strong point that crippled chances of PDP.
It was speculated that the former president and his wife, alongside his loyalists craftily and or not openly, supported the APC candidate, David Lyon and secretly worked against Senator Douye Diri of the PDP. That is why the loss by PDP was not envisaged.
Jonathan could have insisted on any of his loyalists like Igali being the candidate but he settled on Timi Alaibe who was formidable and had the support of all. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo even joined Jonathan to beg Dickson and PDP National chair, Uche Secondus to let Alaibe get the ticket. But Dickson wanted his cousin.
Bayelsa people hated Dickson particularly Bayelsa East (Jonathan’s people) whom Dickson called “non-core Ijaw.” Core Ijaws are apparently according to Dickson, the Sagbama/Ekeremor/Southern Ijaws of Bayelsa and the Bomadi/Burutu/Patani of Delta and as such only they should be in charge.
Disckson preferred Diri and never agreed to the choice of Jonathan, Chief Timi Alaibe, a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
By Dickson’s calculations, it was said that if he allowed Alaibe as governorship candidate of the PDP, it would have reduced or blocked his ambition of moving to Senate.
Another issue that contributed immensely to PDP’s loss was pre-primary election issues.
Many PDP stakeholders, especially those that are loyal to Jonathan had defected to other political parties particularly the APC, after the conduct of the party primary went berserk.
Some of the defectors including Michael Ogiasa, special adviser to Governor Dickson on power development, Senator Nimi Amange and Chief Robert Ajala Enugha, the immediate past chairman of the Environmental Sanitation Board under Seriake Dickson’s government, among others jumped ship.
Lyon. Lyon is said to be a grassroots politician who is very well accepted by all men, women and youths of the state.
It was further said that the support for Lyon by Jonathan, his wife and loyalists became established when the former President’s mother had, during one of Lyon’s visit to Otuoke, openly prayed and prophesied that he (Lyon) would win the Bayelsa guber.
Meanwhile, there are strong indications that the newly elected APC governor, Lyon may defect to the PDP due to the fact that he was supported by Jonathan.
But some commentators have revealed that Lyon would not jump ship to PDP because Jonathan had before the election met with President Muhammadu Buhari and allegedly planned the political game of handing over Bayelsa to APC.
“The lost of PDP in Bayelsa is not unknown. The people wanted to teach Dickson a bitter political lesson. He betrayed Jonathan and he became over ambitious.
“What is confusing now is that Lyon has won and Bayelsa is now APC state. Since Lyon was supported by Jonathan and his men, the possibility of him defecting to PDP is high but until that is done, it is equally difficult to say, whether Jonathan and his men are planning to move to APC,” a Bayelsan who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
A former special adviser on media to Bayelsa state Governor Dickson, now member of the House of Representatives, Francis Agbo (Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo federal constituency) when contacted for a comment on the matter, simply said, “I don’t want to speak on the matter for now because the election was marred by massive rigging but I will grant an elaborate interview on the matter very soon.”
Meanwhile, an Abuja-based Activist and PDP sympathizer, Samson Adebayo, told BusinessDay in an interview that “for those who didn’t follow the build-up to the Bayelsa elections, Dickson disrespected GEJ and the Bayelsa elders. They had settled on Alaibe as a consensus candidate to replace Dickson.
“Dickson whom Jonathan brought out of obscure House of Reps and made Governor, disrespected GEJ and PEJ and bribed Secondus to have his way in the primary and impose his cousin Diri on the party.
“Not only that, he disparaged Bayelsa East- Jonathan’s people (Ogbia, Nembe and Brass) as non-core Ijaw and traitors. Whole thing has been building from senatorial elections, which was why APC won GEJ’s Senatorial district in the 2019 polls with his support.
“All GEJ’s allies and boys moved to APC and David Lyon is a godson of Patience. Jonathan did not campaign for the APC candidate like his wife and mother out of self-respect, but his kinsmen ensured Dickson was taught a lesson without saying a word.
“Jonathan’s polling unit, ward and senatorial district all delivered for Lyon. Wike and Jonathan and their allies all worked for Lyon. The irony of it is that Dickson refused to reconcile and make any concessions saying he could win on his own. He was thoroughly defeated.
“The PDP national leadership is an embarrassment. Why would you let the interests of an underperforming governor who wanted to impose a stooge supersede that of the former president and party elders in a state who has shelved their interests to back the strongest candidate in the party, Alaibe,” Adebayo asked.
In its reaction, the PDP through its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, has said that the conduct and outcome of the governorship elections in Bayelsa have destroyed the hope Nigerians had in democratic practice.
Olgbondiyan in a statement said, “citizens agonized as APC-controlled security forces aided armed hoodlums to invade polling centres, shoot and kill innocent citizens, cart away ballot boxes, stuffed them with already thumb printed ballot papers in favour of APC, after which results are allocated to the APC and handed over to a compromised INEC to announce against the will of the people.
“It is distressing that under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration, votes no longer count; power and governance no longer derive from the people but from violence, manipulations and the barrel of the gun. Nigerians now ask: are we still in a democracy?” he questioned.
