Crisis arising from recent PDP primaries in Bayelsa and other disturbing trends may work against Governor Seriake Dickson’s re-election in 2016, Special Correspondent, JAMES AKAM, states.
With the conclusion of primaries by all political parties, it would appear on the surface that a particular demanding assignment by the parties have been concluded. There are however issues in the states that may make or break the future of parties in them.The recent events in Bayelsa State that saw State and National Assembly members losing at the primaries, parallel elections and electoral crisis by major players gave clear indications that all was not well with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), chapter in the state. There are in fact, fears that given the turn of events in some instances, the state may find itself back to its ugly past. The leadership of the state has continued to receive knocks over the primaries with some insinuating that the governor had embarked on a path that may cause him a re-election in 2016.
Dickson – Dame Patience impasse
Signs of the uncertain situation began to emerge following tales of rift between the governor and Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan. It was alleged that it was the impasse that made Mrs. Jonathan resign her appointment as Permanent Secretary in the Bayelsa State Civil Service. Government sources however claimed that she left the service voluntarily.
Mrs. Jonathan was one of the appointed 17 permanent secretaries in the state civil service in July 2012. The alleged frosty relationship between her and the governor was said to have been triggered by her unwillingness to support Dickson’s second term bid.
It was gathered that the First Lady resigned her Bayelsa job to enable her have the moral guts to fight the governor for the soul of the State.
“The whole thing is political. It appears Madam Peace is not happy with the governor. With her resignation, the battle line has been drawn.
“I feel the President’s wife resigned to enable her have the moral right to slug it out with Dickson ahead the governorship poll in the state”, volunteered a source who pleaded anonymity.
It was also alleged that the President was not too happy with the way funds were being disbursed in the state compared with the few physical projects on ground. Our reporter also gathered that Jonathan was concerned on the way Dickson’s body language appeared to be rubbishing his predecessors’ achievements in the state, including the president, in a manner that magnifies his own feats as unprecedented.
The development, it was learnt has led to a serious rift between Jonathan, First Lady and Dickson, which precipitated shopping for the governor’s successor even when he still has a constitutional right for a second term.
Interest groups on rampage
Protests by interest groups also do not help Dickson’s public rating. Recently, retirees of State Government under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, took to the streets of Yenagoa, the state capital, before barricading the gate of the Government House, demanding payment of their gratuities and pension arrears.
The pensioners, most of them aged and looking frail, began the demonstration from St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School, Amarata, and carried placards with various inscriptions to drive home their demands.
In another development, players of the State football teams (Bayelsa united) and its female counterparts (Bayelsa Queens) protested over their unpaid allowances and sign on fees.
In another show of protest, after the flag-off of the MDGs projects in the state, hundreds of persons with disabilities took to the streets of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, against alleged hijack and diversion of economic empowerment items and commodities provided by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The items, which were commissioned by Dame Jonathan, have set various groups including women against the officials of the Bayelsa State government over allegation of hijack and diversions to cronies and loyalists.
Plans to sack political appointees
The governor also has to contend with the furore arising from his plans to sack some political appointees in his cabinet. He had announced that some political appointees might be relieved of their appointments if the dwindling financial fortunes of the state failed to improve.
He disclosed that the government spends an average of N500m monthly on salaries of political appointees, warning that he be may be forced to downsize the number of appointees in line with the prevailing economic situation in the wake of the sharp drop in the state allocation from the federation accounts. The intended action has seen some of the appointees fighting back in various guises. Some, it was gathered, were aligning with Dickson’s opponents within and outside PDP.
Enter PDP primaries
But by far, the just concluded PDP, primaries seem the main issues that have continued to cause ripples among politicians and other political observers in the state. There were allegations that the contests were marred by so much irregularities ranging from hijack of election materials, gun battle between security agents and alleged intimidations by government favoured aspirants.
Several factors including poor representation as well as alleged intrigues by the governor helped to scuttle the return bid of many lawmakers.
The governor was alleged to have manipulated all the elections in his constituency, edging out perceived anti-government aspirants and replacing them with his loyalists.
Majority Leader of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Peter Akpe was declared winner for Sagbama Constituency 1 in next year’s State House of Assembly elections.
Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Konbowei Benson was also returned winner at the party’s primary, held at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa state.
However, the Majority Leader of the legislative arm of the council was almost killed by the aides to the Speaker for asking why the exercise was conducted in the compound of the Speaker and not at the headquarters of the constituency.
The primaries for National Assembly elections in the state were also marred by violence as armed youths invaded the PDP secretariat when they observed that the election materials were hijacked by another group of politicians in the state.
In the ensuing fracas the state Commissioner of Police, Valentine Ntomchukwu narrowly escaped death. Not even the warning gun shots from policemen attached to the Secretariat of the PDP could stop the youths as they held hostage the members of the Electoral Committee of the party deployed to the state for the conduct of the primaries.
Party faithful from the Yenagoa and Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituencies of the state however held the primary elections in their areas.
Former Political Adviser to the Governor, Alfred Agbedi and the Principal Executive Secretary to the Governor, Douye Diri emerged as flag bearers of the party for Sagbama/Ekeremor and Yenagoa Federal Constituencies respectively, though another aspirant in the Sagbama/Ekeremor, Nestor Binabo emerged in a parallel election.
The incumbent senator for Ekeremor/Sagbama Senatorial district, Heineken Lokpobiri, former Acting Governor of the State and member of the State House of Assembly, Binabo and other anti-zoning loyalists within the Party stayed away from the conduct of the primaries and held a parallel election.
The primary in Sagbama, attended by Dickson, was conducted without a hitch, but the intimidating presence of riot policemen and other security operatives gave the impression that the area was under siege.