By Ishaya Ibrahim
The declaration by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Douye Diri, cannot be sworn in on Friday as Bayelsa Governor because he did not meet the requirements of the Supreme Court, was derided by the PDP on Thursday.
David Lyon, the governor-elect was to be sworn in on Friday as governor of Bayelsa State. But the Supreme Court nullified his election on Thursday on the ground that his deputy paraded fake qualifications.
Oshiomhole had while reacting to the judgment said the PDP governorship candidate, Senator Duoye Diri, would not be sworn in on Friday because in his words, the Senator did not meet the constitutional requirement of 25 per cent spread across the state to be declared the winner.
He said there was no candidate in the election that met the requirement apart from Lyon, adding that the implication was that from Friday Bayelsa will be without a Governor.
But the PDP on Thursday poured scorn on his comment, describing it as as an empty and inconsequential ranting.
In a statement issued by the PDP national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party asked the former Edo State governor “to steer clear of Bayelsa State as his apparent plots to trigger violence in the state has failed.”
The statement continued: “The PDP further counseled Oshiomhole to be careful with his utterances and not use any forms of venomous garrulity and clear misuse of language to destabilize our nation and truncate our hard earned democracy.
“The people of Bayelsa State know as a fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), under our laws, cannot take instructions from any individual, let alone a factional national chairman of a dysfunctional political party like the APC.
“The PDP, as a law-abiding party, counsels Oshiomhole to rein in himself and desist from all odious designs against Bayelsa State, her people and government.
“The PDP also calls on the people of Bayelsa State to remain calm as their mandate has been restored and cannot be taken away by the ranting of any individual who has no stake whatsoever in the wellbeing of his own home state.”
