Bayelsa PDP primary: Uncertainty over choice of candidate

As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holds its primary election to know who hosts its flag in the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State, there appears to be uncertainty over who is the anointed candidate of the leader of the party in the state, Governor Seriake Dickson.

Reports indicated that Governor Dickson has been dithering over his choice for the primary, a development said to have thrown key stakeholders and delegates of the party into a quandary.

The governor, who has all along kept his choice close to his chest, recently sent out signals that Senator Douye Diri was the anointed among the 21 aspirants that picked the party’s nomination forms for the Tuesday primary.

But former President Goodluck Jonathan, sources told Sunday Tribune, fears the Bayelsa governor’s choice may not possess the required clout to win the election for the PDP,  urging Dickson to consider the general interest of the people of Bayelsa who would bear the brunt should the state fall to the opposition.

Dickson was said to have directed some of his associates to work toward delivering Senator Diri as the party’s governorship candidate for the November 16 election.

But the situation was said to have changed with the emergence of the immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Kemela Okara, who was rumoured to be the preferred  choice of the governor.

This claim was further reinforced after  an associate of the governor, Senator Inatimi Rufus-Spiff, emerged as the Director-General of Okara’s campaign organisation.

On why Dickson could have had a change of mind over Diri, sources claimed the former House of Representatives is seen by most members as not popular enough to win and retain the governorship seat for the PDP based on his performance in past election.

But while some members’ only objected to Diri based on popularity, the same could not be said of Okara who was alleged by some members to be a close associate of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Senator Bola Tinubu . He was also said to have contested the state governorship on the ticket of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2012, further generating suspicion that he could be the choice of both Tinubu and Osinbajo.

A party source, who craved anonymity, believes that a wrong choice could prove disastrous for the state.

“What is happening in our party in Bayelsa is the result of the governor’s inability to groom a successor after almost eight years in office. Unfortunately, he is still undecided on who to back just a few days to the primary. There is confusion everywhere as the delegates are yet to get a clear signal on who to vote for on that day, the source who is also a delegate told Sunday Tribune.

The situation Sunday Tribune further gathered had prompted some of the governor’s loyal party men and aides of the governor to conduct their own secret polls on the aspirants as they feared a wrong choice could cost the PDP the state.

Some other aspirants who were checked out include former chairman of the state’s Board of Internal Revenue, Dr. Nimibofa Ayawei, renowned for his philanthropy and former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Ndutimi Alaibe.

While Ayawei, it is said, enjoys some degree of trust from Dickson, according to sources, the people of the state had some regard for him.

Alaibe like Ayawei, some party men believe had enough clout to swing the votes in favour of the PDP. He emerged the next favoured aspirant after Ayawei.

Apart from Alaibe, the three other aspirants are current members of Dickson’s strong Restoration Caucus in the PDP, from which he says his successor must emerge. Without his input and support, it would be practically impossible for any of the aspirants to pick the party’s sole ticket.

Speaking further, the party source said Ayawei is the right person to fly the party’s flag in the governorship election but believes politics is about “consensus building.”

“But if the governor settles for an unpopular aspirant as being speculated, most of the delegates might shock him as they are saying they would vote according to their conscience. The interest of the state and our party is more paramount to us at this point time.

“I doubt if Governor Dickson would have his way if his choice is not popular nor acceptable to majority of the party members. Bayelsa is a PDP state and we would not make the mistake of giving it away to the opposition because of one man’s interest.

“Politics is about consensus building and negotiation. Imposition is a dangerous gambit and the governor has vowed not to impose a candidate on the party,” the source said.

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