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The line-up for the February 11, 2012, governorship race in Bayelsa State is getting longer

With about four months to the February 11, 2012, governorship election in Bayelsa State, the race for the ‘Creek Haven,’ the seat of power, has   intensified.

In the past few weeks, the top politicians jostling for the race in the various political parties have been strategising to gain advantage in the race for the plum job.

The battle for the governorship ticket of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, promises to be fierce, especially as the primaries will hold on November 19. There are indications that although Timipre Sylva, the incumbent governor is working hard to return to power in 2012, the battle may not be an easy one for him. This is so because the opposition against his candidature is not only coming from the opposition parties but also from the fold of his party, the PDP.

According to sources, there are formidable aspirants who appear set to confront the governor in the forthcoming governorship primaries of the ruling PDP in the state.

Those likely to run the race against Sylva   include Henry Seriake Dickson, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Sagbama/Ekeremor constituency, and Johany Turner, chairman, Nigerian Inland Waterways. The other prominent politicians in the state who are interested in grabbing the PDP governorship ticket are Boloubo Orufa, Godknows Igali, Fredrick Ekiyegha and John Idumange. Igali and Ekiyegha may, however, be gauging public opinion before throwing their hats into the ring.

Of all the politicians eyeing Sylva’s job, Dickson seems to be enjoying a lot of support for the race. He is currently enjoying a lot of support because of his pedigree as a federal lawmaker and the fact that his constituency is yet to produce a governor in the state since its creation 15 years ago. Dickson is, therefore, under serious pressure to contest the governorship primaries in the state.

Recently, top level meetings were held in Abuja and Yenagoa by his supporters to restrategise for a tough governorship primaries which would likely be a straight battle between Dickson and Sylva. Even some elders in the state are said to have volunteered to buy the nomination form for Dickson as a sign of their support for him in their bid to draft him into the race. It was gathered that a campaign structure is already being put in place for the lawmaker with a former governorship candidate in the state as the director.

Last week, Dickson threw his hat in the ring by picking the expression of interest and nomination forms at the PDP headquarters in Abuja. H e said he was in the race because the people of Bayelsa State want him to serve in that capacity and the fact that he understands the problems of Bayelsa State.

He also believes that he has the capacity to harness the potentials of Bayelsa State and take it to the next level. “The present governor does not quite understand the problems and potentials of the people. You can see how he has manifested his penchant for starting unnecessary political battles, supremacy tussles and inability to build consensus,” Dickson said

Two weeks ago, two groups, the Bayelsa Restoration Team and the Green Movement canvassed support for Dickson. The group believed to be loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan came out openly in Abuja on October 10, to demand the adoption of the federal lawmaker as a consensus candidate of the PDP in the 2012 governorship election . But Jonathan was said not to have made a commitment to the plan.

Furoebi Sheba Akene, spokesman of the Bayelsa Restoration Movement, said they had reviewed the situation in the state since Jonathan left it as its governor and discovered that the state has been drained. “We met and agreed that we should make a positive change. We have agreed that the governorship of our state should go to Bayelsa West. Looking at the parametres, we feel that Dickson is a good choice.”

But loyalists of the incumbent governor appear not disturbed over activities of the pressure groups because, according to them, no amount of pressure and intimidation would stop Sylva from re-contesting. Nathan Egba, the state commissioner for information and strategy, said in a statement in Yenagoa that the gang-up was only a rumour emanating from Abuja. The statement entitled: “Gang-Up Against Sylva,” accused the politicians behind the anti-Sylva campaign of dropping the name of the President and his wife over endorsement of aspirants.

Egba said they have been reading stories about the gang up against the incumbent governor from the Abuja politicians on the pages of newspapers. “Much as we concede that everybody has the right under our democracy to aspire to whatever position they fancy, it is patently immoral to attempt to confuse and even dupe the public through name dropping and other underhand tactics. Governor Timipre Sylva and his supporters fully welcome all contestants to the upcoming PDP governorship primaries in Bayelsa State, if it turns out that such primary election would be held in the face of the earlier primaries won by the governor,” he said.

According to the information commissioner, “yesterday it was reports of some 80 leaders from Bayelsa West senatorial zone endorsing Hon. Dickson Seriake of the House of Representatives for the governorship of Bayelsa State. Today, we hear it’s the Green Movement of Bayelsa endorsing him. We welcome the chance to trounce him and put him in his proper place. We know that their plans is anchored on the upcoming Supreme Court judgement. In the event it favours them, then they plan to use the EFCC, the police and other security agencies to intimidate and harass both the governor and his supporters into submission and seize the PDP ticket. This, as far as we are concerned, is mere wishful thinking. No matter which way the Supreme Court rules, Governor Sylva will contest and, by the grace of God, secure a second term to finish the work he has started in Bayelsa State,” he said.

After the Appeal Court judgement that exempted governors of five states, including Bayelsa from taking part in the last general election, Buba Marwa, former Lagos State governor, went to the Supreme Court, praying to be joined in the suit because he was denied hearing in the lower court. He wished to contest for governor in Adamawa State. If the Supreme Court does not uphold the position of the lower court, the governors including Sylva, may be asked to vacate their offices. If that happens, the plan B of the Bayelsa pressure groups is that the EFCC would be asked to arrest Sylva over some allegations of financial misdemeanour and get him detained. This will pave way for them to ensure that Dickson becomes the PDP governorship candidate instead of Sylva.

Apart from the Dickson factor, another thing which may work against Sylva is that he is from the same Okpomo, in Brass, with Darius Obiene, the acting PDP chairman in the state. It was gathered that there has been pressure on Obiene to step down so as to brighten Sylva’s chances of securing the PDP governorship ticket because  there is no way the two of them from the same local government area would be allowed to continue to be  at the helm of affairs, at the expense of other councils. Sources said it is either the chairman steps down or the governor foregoes his second term ambition. But Obiene is said to have vowed never to step down as the party chairman. To save the governor however, the executive members of the party met in the state and resolved to petition the national chairman of the party in Abuja to prevail  on Obiene  to step down.

There were indications last week that the national leadership of the PDP has perfected plans to remove Obiene as the chairman of the Bayelsa chapter of the party. Newswatch gathered that Musa Babayo, acting national secretary of the PDP has written a letter to Mkpubre Okon, national vice-chairman, South-South instructing him to call for a meeting of the Bayelsa State executive and the agenda will be the removal of Obiene and appointment of a substantive state chairman of the party who would not be loyal to Sylva.

It was further gathered that this was part of the grand design of the party’s leadership to stop Sylva from securing the party’s governorship ticket on November 19 when the primaries would be held.

Sylva, who was at the PDP headquarters in Abuja last Monday is, however, confident that he would secure the PDP governorship ticket when the chips are down. “As far as my carrying the PDP flag  is concerned, I am very confident. I am a party man, I have performed as governor and I am confident that my people will give me the mandate,” he said.

Sylva’s bid for second term mandate received a boost last week when members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly endorsed his candidature. In a statement titled: ‘On Sylva we stand’, the legislators said that they endorsed his second term bid because he has “a wide knowledge, foresight, and clear understanding of the peculiars nature of our state and its people.”

However, Idumange, another contestant challenging Sylva, appears determined to upset the apple cart. He has already declared for the race. He said he wants to be governor to serve the people and bring the much desired change in the state. He accused the Sylva-led administration of lacking transparency, thereby making Bayelsa a laughing stock in the comity of states in Nigeria. “His promise to complete projects which would be commissioned in April and October 2011, did not come to pass as none of the projects was completed. There is no transparency in the state government, Bayelsa is now a laughing stock,” he said.

Idumange is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Niger Delta University, NDU, Amasoma.

The intrigues in the 2012 race for creek haven took a new dimension last Wednesday when Timi Alaibe, former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, dumped the Labour Party, LP, and returned to PDP. He has already applied for waiver to enable him vie for the forthcoming governorship primaries of the PDP. Alaibe is a serious contender for the job,

Newswatch learnt that with the entrance of Alaibe into the race, there are now intense pressure on Dickson to withdraw from the contest so that the former NDDC boss would easily emerge as a PDP candidate.