Posted by By Ike Abonyi on
The surprise return of the embattled governor of Bayelsa state chief Dieprieye Alamieyesigha to his duty post on Monday has, expectedly, affected the political equation in the state.
The surprise return of the embattled governor of Bayelsa state chief Dieprieye Alamieyesigha to his duty post on Monday has, expectedly, affected the political equation in the state.
Since the arrest of the governor by the London metropolitan police in September, the state has been thrown into a near political confusion with the deputy governor, Goodluck Jonathan on one camp and the ambitious Executive Director of the Niger Delta Development commission (NDDC), Timi Alaibe on the other end.
Alaibe who had been at the head of the opposition against governor Alamieyeseigha since 1999 saw his exit as the easy way for him to climb and take control of events. He did not reckon that a hitherto hapless Jonathan could be an obstacle.
But Jonathan himself not finding the position unattractive moved in, and in a tortoise- like manner penetrated and won the heart of President Obasanjo who according to sources agreed to back him provided he worked towards impeaching the governor. A condition Jonathan was said to have agreed to do but pleaded to be allowed to approach it subtly because of the complexities arising from the constitution.
This development, perhaps influenced the leadership of the PDP sharing the membership card it had earlier given to Alaibe with Jonathan receiving half. The duo was then advised to go and work together with a view to taking power permanently.
The deputy governor who found himself neither here nor there because of fear of being tagged a sell- out continued to carry everyone along assuring both camp of loyalty but secretly working toward establishing his own machinery so as not to be subjugated to Alaibe.
When the old speaker of the state House of Assembly was impeached and replaced by a new one, the motive was clear, to commence the removal of the governor but that was not to be because both Alaibe and Jonathan were unable to agree on the modalities to follow. As a makeshift arrangement, the acting position was granted the deputy pending a consultation with the federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice so as not to engage in any action that could be thrown away by the court. Last week everything was finalized and machinery put in place to commence impeachment proceeding of Alamieyeseigha yesterday .
At the weekend signatures were collected from the assembly members with a view to kick starting the impeachment process this week.
But early yesterday morning the shocker came: the governor was in the state capital Yenagoa summoning all his aides not as ghost but in flesh and blood and before you could say Bayelsa he was everything gubernatorial taking guard of honour from the police and dishing out instructions as the governor of the oil rich state which he really is. With just that every permutation changed as the ‘owner of the good' has returned and taken it. The show of loyalty by his aides was more than just a U-turn. Both the old and new speaker of the state assembly battled to be identified.
For the deputy governor it was easy for him to still be around as he still has escape route, but for Alaibe the hurdle of the struggle has further been raised.
Political watchers are almost in agreement that politics in the state henceforth is going to be bloodier because of the glaring heart of vengeance likely to be displayed against the perceived political enemies.
Alaibe would have to wait and depend on the possible action of the federal government and the British Police to determine his next line of action as his position appear more precarious now than ever. In order not to shoot himself on the foot and find himself empowering his arch rival Alaibe, the governor is most likely going to be disposed to forgiving his deputy for any act of disloyalty while seeing their action as circumstantial. Analysts are even saying that his doing otherwise may jeopardize and threaten his chances of dominating events in the state polity.
But for now, nothing is clear in Bayelsa even with the dramatic return of the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation.