Bayelsa Guber: Assembly Speaker Under Pressure to Resign 

Bayelsa Guber: Assembly Speaker Under Pressure to Resign 

Emmanuel  Addeh in Yenagoa

There were indications yesterday that Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Tonye Isenah, was under intense pressure to resign his position as a result of the changing dynamics of the politics of the November 16 governorship election in the state.

Isenah, who hails from Kolokuma/Opokuma, same local government council as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Senator Douye Diri, it was learnt, is being asked to step down to allow a lawmaker from Southern Ijaw take over the speakership.

The emergence of David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as governorship candidate of the party for the November poll, has also changed the projections for the elections as the PDP is said to be preparing to get a large share of votes from the area, which has one of the highest voting population in the state.

There was no official statement at the time of putting this report together yesterday, neither was anyone willing to speak on the matter, but in a cryptic message on one of the speaker’s social media pages, he maintained that though he remains a loyal politician, it should not be taken for cowardice.

“Don’t push a loyal person to the point where he will have no option. Loyalty is not cowardice,” he wrote in his personal Facebook page.

The Speaker, a three-time member of the Assembly, Tonye Emmanuel Isenah, was elected Speaker of the sixth Assembly in June and he represents Kolokuma/Opokuma constituency I, the local government that will produce the next governor if PDP wins the election.

 If the PDP in the state sticks to its decision to ensure that Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpor, who won election recently and hails from Sagbama, Bayelsa West, Governor Seriake Dickson’s axis, resigns from the Senate and contests as deputy governor, getting enough votes from Southern Ijaw would be difficult, it was learnt.

It was gathered that while the speaker was willing to resign in February next year, when Diri will be sworn it, if he wins, he was not well disposed to stepping down now just about three months after he was elected by his colleagues.

If Isenah gives in to pressure on him to resign, a source said Monday Obolo Bubou, House Leader, would step into his position to balance the unwritten power sharing arrangement in the state and deplete Lyon’s share of votes from the area.

Meanwhile, facts have emerged as to why Governor Dickson sacked his Special Adviser on Talent Hunt and Gender , Mrs. Helen Bob on Wednesday. Her incessant public criticisms of the governor’s and party’s decisions led to her being fired, it was gathered.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, had stated that Bob was dismissed for ‘repeated acts of gross misconduct, indiscipline, irresponsibility and acts unbecoming of a person occupying the high position of Special Adviser in any government whatsoever’.

 A check on Bob’s social media pages indicated that she had publicly called for her ‘signing’ by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), stressing that she was open to the idea of defection.

She had also called on Governor Dickson to substitute Diri, winner of the party primary before the September 23 INEC deadline, maintaining that even if her statement led to her sack, she was satisfied.

“Well, the yam and the knife is in the governor’s hands to cut it the way he likes or keep it whole. For me , there is no need calling stakeholders to hear his briefing as usual because they may not be given opportunity to speak out their minds. Emmanuel  Addeh in Yenagoa

There were indications yesterday that Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Tonye Isenah, was under intense pressure to resign his position as a result of the changing dynamics of the politics of the November 16 governorship election in the state.

Isenah, who hails from Kolokuma/Opokuma, same local government council as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Senator Douye Diri, it was learnt, is being asked to step down to allow a lawmaker from Southern Ijaw take over the speakership.

The emergence of David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as governorship candidate of the party for the November poll, has also changed the projections for the elections as the PDP is said to be preparing to get a large share of votes from the area, which has one of the highest voting population in the state.

There was no official statement at the time of putting this report together yesterday, neither was anyone willing to speak on the matter, but in a cryptic message on one of the speaker’s social media pages, he maintained that though he remains a loyal politician, it should not be taken for cowardice.

“Don’t push a loyal person to the point where he will have no option. Loyalty is not cowardice,” he wrote in his personal Facebook page.

The Speaker, a three-time member of the Assembly, Tonye Emmanuel Isenah, was elected Speaker of the sixth Assembly in June and he represents Kolokuma/Opokuma constituency I, the local government that will produce the next governor if PDP wins the election.

 If the PDP in the state sticks to its decision to ensure that Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpor, who won election recently and hails from Sagbama, Bayelsa West, Governor Seriake Dickson’s axis, resigns from the Senate and contests as deputy governor, getting enough votes from Southern Ijaw would be difficult, it was learnt.

It was gathered that while the speaker was willing to resign in February next year, when Diri will be sworn it, if he wins, he was not well disposed to stepping down now just about three months after he was elected by his colleagues.

If Isenah gives in to pressure on him to resign, a source said Monday Obolo Bubou, House Leader, would step into his position to balance the unwritten power sharing arrangement in the state and deplete Lyon’s share of votes from the area.

Meanwhile, facts have emerged as to why Governor Dickson sacked his Special Adviser on Talent Hunt and Gender , Mrs. Helen Bob on Wednesday. Her incessant public criticisms of the governor’s and party’s decisions led to her being fired, it was gathered.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, had stated that Bob was dismissed for ‘repeated acts of gross misconduct, indiscipline, irresponsibility and acts unbecoming of a person occupying the high position of Special Adviser in any government whatsoever’.

 A check on Bob’s social media pages indicated that she had publicly called for her ‘signing’ by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), stressing that she was open to the idea of defection.

She had also called on Governor Dickson to substitute Diri, winner of the party primary before the September 23 INEC deadline, maintaining that even if her statement led to her sack, she was satisfied.

“Well, the yam and the knife is in the governor’s hands to cut it the way he likes or keep it whole. For me , there is no need calling stakeholders to hear his briefing as usual because they may not be given opportunity to speak out their minds.

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