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Tag: bayelsa

  • Bayelsa vows to appeal court judgement ceding Soku oil wells to Rivers

    The Bayelsa State Government has said it will appeal the Monday judgement ceding the Soku Oil Wells/fields to Rivers State.

    Recall that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declared after examining the documents from government agencies and facts before the court, that the Soku Oil Wells/fields belonged to Rivers State.

    He ordered the National Boundary Commission (NBC) to rectify fin the 12th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria and the erroneous inter-state boundary between the two states as contained in the extant 11th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria.

    The judge declared that the continued failure of the boundary commission to rectify the mistake in the 11th edition of the administrative map since 2002 which showed St Batholomew River, instead of River Santa Barbara as the interstate boundary between the two states was a breach of its statutory duty and a flagrant disobedience of the order of the Supreme Court as contained in its October 10, 2012 judgment.

    The court held that the continued reliance on the defective 11th edition of the map by other government agencies/statutory bodies, especially the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Accountant-General of the Federation in the computation of revenue accruable to Rivers State from the Federation Account, had resulted in the unjust denial of derivation funds accruing from the Soku Oil Wells/fields to the Rivers State Government.

    It granted the two reliefs sought by the Rivers State Government and directed that notice of the judgment be served on the RMAFC and the Accountant-General of the Federation.

    It said that the boundary commission could not unilaterally delineate boundaries between Rivers and Bayelsa states after the Supreme Court judgment on the matter.

    The court also dismissed an objection to the suit raised by the boundary commission, which it said, was lacking in merit.

    Counsel to the Rivers State Government, L.E. Nwosu (SAN,) described it as a victory for the rule of law. He said the declarative judgment would check any resort to self-help over the injustice.

    There was jubilation at the Rivers State Government House, where Wike and some top officials of his administration expressed joy that the matter had been resolved in the state’s favour.

    But in Yenagoa,the Bayelsa State capital, the government flayed the verdict, which it said would not stand.

    At the Government House, Wike welcomed the verdict and vowed that his administration would continue to defend the interest of Rivers State in order to promote the welfare of her people.

    The governor said it was a known fact that the Soku Oil Wells/fields belonged to his state before they were appropriated by the Federal Government for Bayelsa State.

    Wike said: ”The judgment is very proper. I have said it severally that we must fight for whatever belongs to Rivers State. That is what we are doing .

    ”Everybody knows that it is wrong for the Federal Government to collect our oil wells and cede same to Bayelsa State. So, we took the right step by going to court.

    “We are happy for what happened today (Monday).

    We don’t believe in fighting. We only believe in following due process. Thank God the Federal High Court has affirmed and they should pay us our money which they have collected. The revenue derivation should continue to be paid into Rivers State coffers. We are happy.”

    At the Rivers state secretariat on William Jumbo Street, civil servants expressed happiness at the development.

    “It was always clear that politics was behind the decision to hand the oil well to Bayelsa,” one of the civil servants said.

    Mr. Allwell Oroko of the Rivers State University, and some friends who keenly followed the case, said it was good that it had been concluded in the state’s favour.

    They advised that the expected windfall should impact on the people.

    But Bayelsa State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Andrew Arthur, said the judgment would be upturned.

    Arthur said the application by the Rivers State Government was cunningly hidden from the Bayelsa Government, adding he only got to know about it on the judgment day (yesterday).

    He said although he would restrain from making further comments until he received a copy of the judgment, Rivers had brought similar applications on about four occasions but lost all.

    The commissioner urged the people to remain calm since the government would challenge the order of the court at the appeal.

    He said: “Don’t forget that we were not party to the said action that was brought by the Rivers State. We were not even aware of the pendency of the action up to the stage of this morning.

    “I had to call the governor to intimate the governor of the fact that there was a judgment. I have not seen the hard copy of the judgment apart from what I read from papers. I can’t be making a comment on the basis of what is written in papers.

    “But I will be in Abuja and I can assure you that Bayelsa State will have a robust defence by way of an appeal as an interested party. It is quite unfortunate. Rivers State had brought similar applications on about four occasions before the Federal High Court.

    “Bayelsans should remain calm. We understand that this government is almost at its terminal point, but we still owe a duty to protect the interest of Bayelsa State and the government will not shelve that responsibility at this stage.”

  • Wike threatens to remove monarch for ‘receiving’ Bayelsa gov without permission

    …blasts Dickson for causing ‘division’ among Rivers people

    Angry Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has attacked the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson for allegedly trying to cause division in Rivers.

    The governor also called on Kalabari leaders to prevail on the Amanyanabo of Kalabari, King Theophilus J.T. Princewill, not to allow himself to be used by external forces to create disunity in the State.

    Speaking during a Solidarity visit by Kalabari people at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Wike regretted that Princewill deliberately allowed Dickson to use him to promote divisiveness.

    He said: “I want to publicly lay a complaint on the action of Amayanabo of Kalabari. The next time it happens, I will act as a governor. The Amanyanabo of Abonnema didn’t do it, he called me on phone when the Governor of Bayelsa, Dickson tried to create problems in Rivers State.”

    Wike said that Dickson visited the state, without getting in touch with the relevant authorities, under the guise of coming to see Ijaw people.

    “He said he was coming to see Ijaw people in Rivers State and he would be hosted by the Amayanabo of Kalabari and Amayanabo of Abonnema.

    “The Amanyanabo of Abonnema called me and said how can that be? The Rivers State Governor did not call me. The Amanyanabo of Kalabari did not call me. What he did was to roll out drums to receive the Bayelsa State Governor,” Wike said.

    He informed the Kalabari delegation, that should the Amanyanabo of Kalabari take such illegal action in future, he will face sanctions.

    He said: “That day I would have removed him, but I held myself. What they would do is to go to radio and abuse me. But I am use to insults. I am trying to complain to you people.

    “You can see how people are trying to divide a State. A fellow governor would come from somewhere to create division.”

    He said Dickson professed love for Ijaw people in Rivers State, but was busy working to take the State’s oil resources in Soku and Kula.

    “Already, we have gone back to Court in relation to Soku oil wells. This is the man who is claiming Kula oil wells and Soku.

    “I have gone back to court and we will reclaim the Soku Oil Wells for Rivers State. This is the same man you claim loves you and you roll out drums against Protocol,” he said.

    He reiterated that the Amanyanabo of Kalabari would face sanctions if he continued acts of division.

    “If any of such things happen again, I will take the necessary action. I will not listen to any further excuse, that is why I am saying this publicly. Tell him to respect constituted authority.

    “It is not good for anyone to come and divide Rivers State, because the state is one. It is unfortunate what my colleague did. I handed him over to God and prayed for God to do his will”, he said.

    The Governor commended the peace initiative of the Amanyanabo of Abonnema and urged other traditional rulers to emulate him.

     

  • Kogi, Bayelsa polls were peaceful – IGP

    Kogi, Bayelsa polls were peaceful – IGP

    Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police (IGP), says the governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states were peaceful.

    Adamu said this while speaking at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) inter-agency consultative committee on election security (ICCES) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

    The elections, conducted on November 16, were marred by cases of violence, thuggery, ballot box snatching and intimidation of voters and electoral officials.

    At least four persons were reported dead in separate attacks in the two states.

    But speaking at the meeting which was held at the INEC headquarters, Adamu, who was represented by Bashir Makama, an assistant inspector-general of police (AIG), said the polls were “relatively peaceful”.

    He, however, admitted that there is a need to improve election security.

    “In the whole, despite the related infractions or some sort of thuggery observed and other challenges that were faced, the election could be said to be relatively peaceful,” he said, adding that “there is still room for improvements.”

    He said the police arrested at least 43 suspects in connection with violence and violation of electoral laws during the elections in the two states.

    In his remarks, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, asked for proper identification of all police officers deployed in polling units “so that they will be held responsible for the conduct of elections in those locations”.

    “The commission believes that the purpose of security deployment during elections is to protect the voters, election officials and materials, accredited observers, the media and to safeguard the integrity of the processes generally, including the polling units and collation centres,” he said.

    “Therefore, the deployment of security personnel in all future elections should be tied to specific locations and activities.

    “All security personnel deployed to polling units and collation centres should be identified by name as is the case with INEC officials.

    “This will not only enhance transparency, but the commission and security agencies will know who to contact in specific locations during elections when the need arises.”

  • APC Bayelsa cautions Dickson: ‘Stop heating up the polity’

    APC Bayelsa cautions Dickson: ‘Stop heating up the polity’

    Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has told the governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, to stop threatening the state and trying to raise tension following the electoral defeat of his candidate. APC advised, instead, that Dickson should toe the path of democracy and rule of law by taking his grievances to the courts.

    The party’s State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, expressed APC’s position in a statement released in Yenagoa on Sunday. It was amid successions of claims by Dickson after the loss of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate at the November 16 governorship election in the state, Senator Douye Diri.

    Diri had lost to the APC candidate and Governor-Elect, Chief David Lyon, who won with over 70 per cent of the votes and defeated his opponent in six of the eight local government areas of the state.

    The statement read, “In the last few weeks, since the overwhelming victory of our candidate at the November 16 governorship election, Chief David Lyon, Governor Henry Seriake Dickson has inundated the state and, indeed, the country with wild allegations and inciting comments. He has screamed blue murder at all relevant institutions of state, from the electoral body to the security agencies, and the winning All Progressives Congress (APC). And he has absolved only himself and his section of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of blame.

    “From his furious mind, Dickson has issued threats to the electorate in Bayelsa State and APC members, particularly, and he has boasted about his capacity to unleash violence and turn the state upside down.

    “Dickson has displayed everything, but commitment to democratic ideals and legal processes of electoral conflict resolution.

    “We, however, unequivocally state and also remind Dickson that the elections have been concluded and the Governor-Elect, Chief David Lyon, is only waiting to be sworn into office as the next Governor of Bayelsa State. And for those who feel aggrieved, like Dickson, there are constitutionally prescribed processes open to them to follow in trying to redress their grievances. Disparaging the institutions of state and inciting the public to violence are, certainly, not among the processes.

    “Dickson is not a court of law, he should stop holding court on the governorship election. He cannot be the plaintiff and judge in a case in which he is an interested party. If he has grievances, the place to go is the electoral tribunal.

    “Dickson is also not Bayelsa State, and he cannot claim to be voicing the opinion of the people, who have overwhelmingly spoken with their votes against his nearly eight years of misrule and mistreatment.

    “The people of Bayelsa spoke on November 16 across political boundaries and the message was clear. Dickson must respect the voice of the people.”

  • Bayelsa: INEC, Police, APC counter Dickson, insist ‘nobody died during guber poll’

    Bayelsa: INEC, Police, APC counter Dickson, insist ‘nobody died during guber poll’

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police, the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other stakeholders have insisted that nobody died during the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State.

    In separate interviews, they debunked insinuations by the state Governor, Seriake Dickson that 22 people were killed with 10 of them beheaded during the governorship poll, which the APC Candidate, Chief David Lyon, won by landslide.

    Speaking on the allegations of the governor, the INEC Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Wilfred Ifogha, said for the first time in the history of Bayelsa elections, no soul was lost during the just-concluded governorship poll in the state.

    He said foreign and domestic observers were on ground to monitor the election adding that none of their reports indicated that people died during the election.

    Ifogha said all the INEC ad-hoc employees deployed to conduct the election returned safely without injuries insisting that the poll was a watershed in the history of Bayelsa.

    He said: “Observers were there both foreign and local. Other groups were there and there was nothing like even loss of a soul. I don’t know where all these are coming from.

    “As far as INEC is concerned, there was no report of such whatsoever. Our ad-hoc employees came back safely. People came out and voted peacefully, there was no report of death for the first time in Bayelsa. No soul was lost. No casualty in Bayelsa”.

    Speaking on Dickson’s outburst, the Bayelsa State police command, said nobody died during the poll.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Butswat Asinim, said the Bayelsa poll was adjudged the most peaceful election in the history of the state.

    He said: “Nobody died during the governorship election in Bayelsa. In fact, it was adjudged the most peaceful poll in the history of the state. There was no casualty at all”.

    Also, the APC cautioned the governor about his public statement concerning the election and asked him to accept defeat and stop lying to justify his failures at the poll.

    The Vice-Chairman, Media and Publicity, APC Campaign Council, Mr. Julius Bokoru, said the governor was hallucinating about a violent plot he hatched during the poll that failed to materialise following the vigilance of security operatives.

    Bokoru said the governor had wanted people to die so he could discredit the poll but unknown to him that God had prepared security agencies to avert his planned violence.

    He said: “Dickson’s statements about over 20 people killed during the last governorship election are as laughable and abstract as his governorship is. Or, perhaps, 20 people dying in an election was his idea.

    “It was his plan for the election and that macabre orgy of violence that, until this year’s elections, became the hallmark of politics in the Dickson years is what was planned this year that didn’t work. Thanks to God and the security agencies and, of course, restraint and maturity from the APC family.

    “Unfortunately for Dickson, nobody died during the last elections. In fact it was adjudged to be the most peaceful guber elections ever conducted in the state, the whole nation knows that

    “Dickson should tell us the names of the over 20 people he imagines were killed, who are their family members? What communities are they from? What were the security reports? 20 people are not 20 chickens. Dickson should learn to value human lives”.

    Also a prominent indigene of Nembe, the local government area, where the governor alleged most people died urged Dickson to accept defeat and move on and avoid the temptation of misleading members of the public.

    The indigene, Wilfred Ogbotobo, who is also a chief in Nembe Kingdom, urged the governor to forget the concluded poll and concentrate on perfecting his handover note.

    H said: “I advise Governor Henry Seriake Dickson to rather be worried about tidying up his stewardship and handover notes than spewing wild allegations he could not substantiate with solid facts.

    “As far as we know, the entire Nembe local government area was peaceful during and after the election. The entire world witnessed their evil plans and actions that led to their disastrous campaign in Nembe City.

    “If APC members in Nembe City had retaliated during that provocative misadventure, it would have been a bloodbath. So, in all his careless talk about killings, if he has evidence he should equally accompany it with the totality of circumstances surrounding the killings.

    “If twenty-two Nembe sons and daughters were killed during the election, I believe the families concerned wouldn’t wait for a discredited politician like Dickson, from a small place like Toru-Orrua, to be their mouthpiece. They would prefer someone the world could believe.

    “So, he should be cautioned that, repeating this lie with the hope that the public would believe it as truth, would not work for him this time around. Bayelsans rejected his candidates. They have proved that he is a big failure. He destroyed the Yenagoa Water Reticulation Project. He destroyed the brotherhood and unity of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality.

    “Hence, he should accept the outcome of the election as a pointer to his unprecedented incompetence, and popular disenchantment. You can’t be a winner all the time, especially when you failed to do the right thing in your party, and not only disregarded but insulted the very political forces that elevated him to such undreamt of heights.

    “Nobody should listen to him. He is a failure and disappointment all in one. His obsession is to paint the APC black and disparage Chief Timipre Sylva in the conscience of the public”.

  • Police confirm abduction of three female students in Bayelsa

    Police confirm abduction of three female students in Bayelsa

    The police have confirmed the abduction of three female students of the Bayelsa State College of Health Technology, Otuogidi, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State by unidentified gunmen.

    The final year students of Environmental Department were seized by their assailants at about 11 am on Monday and taken to an unknown place.

    Sources said the students were walking along the School Road to their hostel when some men rounded up close to the Ogbia market.

    One of the sources, who spoke in confidence, said the incident happened close to the scene where some policemen were ambushed and killed by gunmen prior to the concluded governorship poll in the state.

    She said: “The girls were walking to their hostel from school when some men appeared from the bush and accosted them. They seized them and took them to an unknown place. They must have been armed. They took the girls across the river”.

    The source said students on campus were worried about the development especially about the motive behind the abduction.

    “The landlady of one of the abducted students came to the campus with a pair of the girl’s sandals. We saw her crying and appealing to the school authority to rescue the victims”, she said.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Butswat Asinim identified the students as Jennifer Solomon Ebefini, Lucky-Ere Germany and Deborah Doctor.

    He said: “At about 1120 hours, three female students namely; Jennifer Solomon Ebefini ‘f’, Lucky-Ere Germany ‘f’ and Deborah Doctor ‘f’ of Environmental Health Department of College of Health Technology Otuogidi, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, were kidnapped at gunpoint by unknown gunmen, along the College of Health Technology Road, Otuogidi.

    “Police were alerted, a search of the area was conducted and a 9 Horsepower Engine boat containing some foodstuffs and other items used by the kidnappers were recovered.

    “The entire surrounding area was cordoned off and a Joint Patrol is ongoing to rescue the victims and arrest the kidnappers.

    “The command hereby appeals to the students of the college to be calm as efforts are intensified to rescue the victims and protect the student community”.

  • 10 beheaded in ‘violent’ Bayelsa poll – Dickson

    Twenty two people were killed during the November 16 violent Bayelsa State election, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson alleged on Monday.

    Ten of them, according to the governor, were beheaded, their bodies mutilated and thrown into the sea.

    Dickson, at an interractive session with reporters in Abuja, said: “I just set up a panel of inquiry on the killings during the poll. What took place in Nembe in particular was a massacre. What we saw was a tragedy of monumental proportion

    “So far, 12 deaths were recorded. Their offence was being PDP members and for attending PDP rally. We have not heard the last of the brutality they visited on law-abiding citizens in Nembe.

    “They also beheaded, mutilated and actually butchered some citizens of the state. From eye-witness accounts, the people they slaughtered and butchered were close to 10.”

    The governor also said going by two judgments of the Federal High Court, the APC had no candidate in the state for the poll.

    He said the PDP would pursue its pre-election cases to logical conclusion.

    Dickson pointed out that the state had remained peaceful after the poll because he led the campaign against violence

    He said there was no election in Nembe, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia and Yenagoa.

    He added: “What happened in Bayelsa State was not an election but a democratic coup. The results were pre-meditated as collation officers were carefully selected. It was the first time the collation officers, who were trained in Benin, were coming to Bayelsa State.

    “These collation officers were guided by the military and protected by the police to rig the poll. In Nembe, militia men took control, thumb-printed ballot papers and returned 80,000 votes for APC.

    “In Ogbia, they came up with 50,000 votes which had never been the case in the electoral history of the state. In Yenagoa, the area with the largest votes, they arrested, harassed and shot down PDP supporters. As we are talking, a number of PDP supporters are still in custody.

    “Some electoral officers were so angry that they have sworn to affidavits to expose what the military and the police did. They confessed that they sat down and wrote the figures.

    “Elections after elections, we will continue to talk about the neutrality or otherwise of the military. The soldiers and the police turned everybody off.

    “You need to understand our peculiar terrain. For you to have acceptable election, the security people must behave in an acceptable and professional way. We thought the military and the police will be neutral but they were not.”

    On the next line of action, Dickson said the battle will shift to the court and election petitions tribunal.

    “As of the date of the election on November 16, there were and there will continue to be two judgments of the Federal High Court. As of that date, the APC did not have a valid candidate.

    “As lovers of peace and firm believers in democratic process, we have no option than to use the existing legal process/ structure for redress. We will continue the battle at the Federal High Court and the Election Petitions Tribunal.”

  • Bayelsa poll: Lamido’s cruel attack on Jonathan, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    Bayelsa poll: Lamido’s cruel attack on Jonathan, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon
    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has become the latest target of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to direct its angst for its defeat in the November 16, 2019, poll in Bayelsa State.
    The initial prey, as usual, were President Muhammadu Buhari; the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); security agencies, especially the Police and Military; and thugs allegedly “recruited” by the APC.
    This time, former Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State is leading the charge, alleging that Dr. Jonathan traded off the PDP to APC in Bayelsa, for a reprieve in the controversial $1.6b Malabu Oil (OPL 245) scam.
    According to Lamido, in an interview: “The leadership of the APC and the government are blackmailing Jonathan, and I think I can say it anywhere that he traded this for his own freedom.
    “Jonathan worked against his party because he was very, very angry with Governor Seriake Dickson. It was because he sure knows his problem with Buhari and his government. And the issue of Malabu, I think, played a key role.”
    What a contradiction! How could Jonathan be angry with Dickson because he’s afraid of being held to account in the said Malabu scandal?
    Should the public infer that Lamido has swapped, for his freedom, the PDP in Jigawa (where the APC has won all elections since 2015) because the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is trying him (and his two sons and two firms) for fraud?
    It’s easy to see where Lamido is coming from: First, he likely smelt a rat when, prior to the poll, Jonathan visited President Buhari, and concluded that, “the sojourn must be for a trade-off of the PDP in Bayelsa, to get amnesty in the Malabu racket!”
    Second is Lamido’s animus against Jonathan since 2015 when he aspired to be president, but was checkmated by the “right of first refusal” that Jonathan enjoyed seeking re-election.
    This shows in his attack, hence: “To me, Jonathan is a creation of an accident hoisted (foisted) by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on Nigeria. I don’t think, in terms of looking at the Nigerian landscape, you can rate him as a leader outside the office he occupied.”
    Plainly pathetic! When it suits the likes of Lamido, they advertise Jonathan as a great leader, staunch ally, and statesman; yet, when their self-worth is deflated, they strive to bring him down.
    Jonathan has denied the Lamido charge, and dared him to prove same or be quiet, even as the Presidency has refuted the blackmail report, and advised critics to stop blaming President Buhari for everything, “including issues that are not his business.”
    Jonathan, via his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, said: “Apparently seized by some inexplicable resentment, Lamido held on to the lie… by a few mischief-makers, to the effect that former President Jonathan helped the APC to win the last gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State.
    “Unfortunately, the former Governor jumped into this convenient bandwagon of grovellers without first thinking of the burden of substantiating his claim…”
    On Malabu, he said: “We feel that it is important to reiterate, as we have always done, that former President Jonathan did nothing wrong, as far as the Malabu deal is concerned. He therefore doesn’t need to cut a deal with anybody within or outside Nigeria.
    “We call on anyone, including Mr. Sule Lamido, who has any shred of evidence linking former President Jonathan to any wrongdoing in the case of the Malabu incident, to waste no time in publishing such evidence or forever remain silent.”
    As Lamido chews a response to Jonathan’s gauntlet, I reference my last week’s article, “November 16 poll: Can’t PDP examine itself?” which urged the party to look inward, and learn where it got it wrong, rather than blame imaginable forces for its defeat.
    But afresh, the party has left the substance, and turned on another soft spot, Jonathan, to massage it’s bruised electoral ego. It embarked on a faulty raison d’être, to arrive at, “If Jonathan had supported us (PDP), we would have won the election.”
    This is simplistic reasoning that discounts other variables, which, in the case of Bayelsa, were as many as the 45 political parties that presented candidates for the poll.
    These variables: how the policies and programmes of Dickson’s eight-year rule had impacted the people, and the political undercurrents in the state, were capped by the governor’s desire to “install” his successor.
    Going forward, Dickson rejected the views and feelings of leaders of the PDP, and indeed, concerned members of Bayelsa’s polity, who craved that the candidate or running mate be zoned to a particular council or district.
    Thus, with a primary election conducted for the aspirants, the governor allegedly “foisted” on the party members Senator Diri Douye, who was declared winner of the poll.
    The PDP running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewrujakpor, was chosen from Dickson’s council, Sagbama (Bayelsa West), instead of Ogbia, as canvassed, to counter the high votes in Southern Ijaw (Bayelsa Central), the fort of APC’s candidate, Chief David Lyon.
    Jonathan is credited to having the capacity to influence elections in his council of Ogbia in Beyelsa East, where “he did influence the November 16 poll to favour the APC,” his critics alleged.
    But here are the posers: If the PDP hierarchy knew Jonathan’s political relevance, and capability to swing votes, why didn’t they take his counsel for a level-playing field at the primaries?
    If he’s invincible in Ogbia, and Bayelsa East in general, why didn’t they choose the PDP running mate from there, after his “anointed” aspirant, Chief Timi Alaibe, lost the governorship ticket?
    And if Jonathan is Dickson’s “Leader,” as the governor espouses, why didn’t he defer one position – the candidate or running mate – to him?
    Picking on Jonathan is like asking a wife who, among several men, including her husband, will she fight with. Definitely, she will choose her husband on the belief that he won’t hurt her!
    Because the former President is viewed as gentle, harmless and “powerless,” the PDP, as represented by Lamido and others, has picked on him, to let off the steam of its political disaster.
    Why not pick on Governor Dickson, the alpha and omega in the choice of the candidate and running mate, and the campaigning, which he led, as if he’s on the ballot?
    What would it have cost the governor to yield one position to the Jonathan camp, and shelve his “senatorial ambition”? Nothing, but accolades as “a listening leader, and a man of the people!”
    Dickson was the reason the PDP, since 1999, lost its power in Bayelsa, as he didn’t play his card justly, fairly and equitably. So, the aberration of November 16 had nothing to do with Jonathan!
    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
  • Bayelsa: APC denies influencing INEC’s list of presiding officers

    Bayelsa: APC denies influencing INEC’s list of presiding officers

    All Progressives Congress (APC) says that it does not influence the list of Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct forthcoming Bayelsa governorship election.

    In a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yekini Nabena, in Abuja on Tuesday, APC dismissed the allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Sen. Douye Diri, that APC had influenced the list.

    Mr Jonathan Obuebite, the Director of Media and Publicity of Sen. Douye Diri Campaign Organisation had on Monday, called on INEC to withdraw a supposed list of SPOs and engage fresh hands from institutions outside Bayelsa.

    “The baseless allegation by the PDP and its governorship candidate is part of their plan to intimidate INEC and other critical stakeholders that will be on official election duty,” he said.

  • Kidnappers free 84-year-old Bayelsa monarch

    The abducted 84-year-old monarch of Tarakiri clan, Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa State, King George Agbabou Week, has regained freedom 25 days after he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

    Unidentified gunmen on October 3 abducted the Traditional Ruler, who is the father of the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Doodei Week, and whisked him away from his country home at Ayama-Ijaw to unknown place.

    The Ebenanaowei of Tarakiri Clan was reportedly kidnapped about 11:20pm by seven masked men, who carried weapons including AK47 rifles.

    The assailants ransacked the palace of the king carting away television sets, jewelry and other valuables.

    They reportedly mishandled the victim as they dragged him on the ground to the waterside, where they fled with him on speedboats.

    But the commissioner, Doodei Week, confirmed that his father was freed by the kidnappers on Sunday.

    Week said: “Finally, my role model, man who thought me things, including courage, fear of God, love, perseverance, respect, humility, how to say no or yes, where it is the right time to say, and above all, prays for me, is back home after 25days of incarceration by adversarial elements”, he said.

    It was learnt that the king regained freedom following weeks of negotiations that resulted in payment of undisclosed ransom.

    When contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, Asimin Butswat, confirmed the freedom of the monarch.