Not too long ago, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made a disclosure that should concern all lovers of good democratic ethos. He said that the primaries conducted by the various political parties ahead of the 2019 elections are some of the “most acrimonious” in the nation’s history in recent times.
Mahmood pointed out that internal party democracy was still a source of concern to the nation’s electoral progress.
The PDP in Bayelsa State is in a particularly trying period that demands the utmost exhibition of patience, tact and political sagacity in dealing with challenges confronting it. Unlike past governorship primaries in Bayelsa State, the 2019 primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) i is certain to affect the unity of the PDP except something is urgently done to correct the lopsided decisions that are currently being taken by Governor Seriake Dickson.
Despite assurances by key players in the PDP, the battle for who produces the next flag bearer of the PDP is undoubtedly among three blocs within the party. The three blocs are those of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Restoration Caucus led by Governor Seriake Dickson and the independent aspirants not tied to any political group.
At the last count, 21 PDP governorship aspirants have procured the party forms for the race. Of this 21 aspirants over half of this number belong to Governor Sieriake Dickson’s Restoration Group and the prominent candidate’s in the Restoration Group include; Kemela Okara, immediate past Secretary to the State Government; Douye Diri, a Senator representing Bayelsa Central; Talford Ongolo, former Chief of Staff to Governor Dickson; Fred Agbedi , former Director-General of the Dickson Governorship campaign in 2015 and a member of the federal House of Representatives
Aside from these front runners, there are also other contestants from the Restoration Group and they include: include the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Board of Internal Revenue, Dr. Ayawei Ayawei, the Deputy Governor Retired Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah and the Former Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Kombowei Benson.
The other camps made up of the independents and those loyal to former President Goodluck Jonathan include the likes of Ambassador Boladei Igali, Architect and former Commissioner during the Diepreye Alamesiagha and Goodluck Jonathan’s government, Reuben Okoya, former NDDC Managing Director, Timi Alaibe and Kienebi Okoko, an oil magnate.
From all indications, Dickson has evolved a very dangerous game plan that can backfire on the fortunes of PDP this time, despite the party having held sway since 1999. The Bayelsa Governor deliberately created a contentious field by sponsoring all manner of candidates within the Restoration Group. Otherwise, how did so many candidates meet the monetary demand for payment of N20 million Expression of Interest form? Meanwhile, Dickson insists that the Restoration Group will produce both the governorship and deputy governorship candidates, clearly negating the politics of inclusion and team spirit that brought him to power.
As things stand today, the most prudent thing to do is for Dickson to drop contemplating giving Douye Diri and Lawrence Ewrudjiakpo the governorship and deputy governorship tickets, so that, at least the two senatorial seats are not compromised, and PDP can retain them. The Bayelsa Governor has unwittingly created a scenario where aggrieved candidates who were shut out of the contest will support the APC, as it happened in Ogun State, Zamfara and Imo State.
In order to appease all the contending forces, there seems to be an agreement that Governor Dickson should allow a consensus candidate within the Restoration Group, like Kemela Okara, while the Goodluck Jonathan group to picks the Deputy Governor, instead of insisting that both governor and deputy must come from the Restoration Group.
Sieriake Dickson was once a member of Goodluck Jonathan’s Green Movement and having fallen out with Mrs. Patience Jonathan, he would have been dropped for the 2015 race had Goodluck Jonathan won the 2015 Presidential election. In his place, the candidate of Madam Jonathan, Dudafa Waripamo Owei would have emerged. But fate smiled on Dickson. Jonathan lost his 2015 presidential bid and Sieriake Dickson became the de facto leader of the PDP in the state and also succeeded in defeating his chief rival in the 2015 race, Timipre Sylva of the APC.
Following his victory, a no-love-lost relationship developed between Sieriake Dickson and his former boss and benefactor, Goodluck Jonathan as he set up the Restoration Group to champion his own political interest.
Dickson, having become the leader of the PDP in Bayelsa State, side-stepped Goodluck Jonathan and any interest allied to the former President with the sole aim being to become the leader of the Ijaw nation and a Senator from Bayelsa West upon the completion of his tenure as Governor of Bayelsa State.
To achieve his ambition, he is believed to have put his friend and most prominent stooge, Lawrence Ewrudjiakpo, whom he had previously made his Commissioner for Works as the candidate for the Senate position in Bayelsa West so he could get Lawrence Ewrudjiakpo to step-down from that position and take the Deputy Governor position in the 2019 Governorship race, thereby allowing Dickson to achieve his ambition of going to the Senate immediately his tenure ends as Governor of the State.
Dickson’s permutation is to give the governorship and deputy governorship ticket to the duo of Duoye Diri and Lawrence Ewrudjiakpo, who are Senators currently representing Bayelsa State in the Senate. Both men are his former commissioners with whom he plans to continue to dominate the affairs of the State. To buttress this thinking, Lawrence Ewrudjiakpo has already joined the Duoye Diri campaign team, while the likes of Kemela Okara and Talford Ongolo will remain puns in Dickson’s Chess-board for the purpose of horse-trading and negotiations. These are Dickson’s last-minute candidates should his preferred plan fail.
Dickson had premised his choice of Duoye Diri on the need to have Duoye Diri step down from his Senate position so he can compensate a candidate from South Ijaw area of Bayelsa Central Senatorial zone with the Senate ticket, in order that Southern Ijaw can be motivated to block attempts at using their area to rig the elections in favour of the APC. However, there is clear danger in having two serving PDP Senators on the Bayelsa governorship ticket as this exposes the PDP to another possible loss of one or two Senatorial seats given that Bayelsa East was recently lost to the APC because of the fight for supremacy between the loyalists of Governor Sieriake Dickson and former President Goodluck Jonathan. Biobarakuma Degi-Eremenyo of APC emerged as the Senator of Bayelsa East in the last election instead of the PDP candidate. Preye Oseke of APC also emerged winner to represent the people of Southern-Ijaw Federal Constituency. These two examples show clearly that Dickson’s gamble is a very dangerous one.
The only way to stave-off major in-fighting within the ranks of the PDP in Bayelsa State is to allow the choice of Kemela Okara as the compromise candidate while President Goodluck Jonathan’s camp is compensated with the Deputy Governorship ticket so as to ensure party unity while leaving the duo of Douye Diri and Lawrence Ewrudjiakpo both Senators of the PDP currently representing Bayelsa Central and Bayelsa West in the Senate. Governor Seriake Dickson should be persuaded to drop his current ambition and wait for 2023 to enter the race for the Bayelsa West Senatorial ticket.
