The spokesperson to Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, Daniel Alabrah, has said it is unrealistic for anyone to want to put pressure on Mr Diri to declare if he is going to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027 or not.
“At the appropriate time, if the governor wants to support the president, he will say so. He is a very courageous man. He will speak at the right time,” Mr Alabrah said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.
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“Nobody can compel him to speak before that time. The governor will only speak when he believes that this is what will serve the interest of Bayelsa State and the people.”
Mr Alabrah was responding to a comment by the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike’s political ally, George Turnah, challenging Mr Diri to declare whether he would support Mr Tinubu’s re-election bid.
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Mr Turnah is the South-South zonal secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Until 14 February, he was Mr Diri’s executive assistant on public affairs.
The PDP chieftain switched political loyalty from the governor to the FCT minister and is now mobilising political support for Mr Wike and President Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.
The NEW Associates, a political group led by Mr Turnah, organised a pro-Wike rally in Bayelsa in April despite Governor Diri’s opposition to it. The governor said he did not want the political crisis in Rivers to extend to Bayelsa.
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At the rally, Mr Turnah said that Mr Diri has benefited from Mr Tinubu more than any other governor in the South-South, yet the Bayelsa governor was “ungrateful” to the president.
‘Indictment on Nigeria’s democracy’
Governor Diri’s spokesperson, Mr Alabrah, challenged Mr Turnah to explain what he meant when he said that the Bayelsa governor is a beneficiary of the president’s magnanimity.
“From my own understanding, what he was referring to was that the president ensured that there was a level-playing field during the governorship election in 2023 in Bayelsa. So is that something that any right-thinking person will call magnanimity? Is it not an indictment on our democracy? Because that is the only thing he is alluding to,” Mr Alabrah said.
“If you say the governor has benefited from the president’s magnanimity, which means the president would have influenced the election against the governor despite the fact that Bayelsans voted for him?
“When people spread this kind of narrative, what does it tell about our democracy? The president did not do any personal favour to the governor as far as I know. So what is the personal favour that he now has to return that favour by supporting him (the president) in 2027?”
Mr Alabrah said Governor Diri has a “very good relationship” with President Tinubu, only that both leaders belong to different political parties.
“The president belongs to the APC, the governor is a PDP governor. So why would it be the governor that would be shouting about the president when the president is not in his party?
“Are you going to compel somebody to support you? You cannot force somebody to support you. If somebody does not want to vote for you, you cannot force him to vote for you. The truth is that the governor has nothing against the president, and Turnah cannot tell the governor to declare his stance.
“So, every governor in Nigeria must declare whether they are supporting the president or not? Do you have that kind of situation in a democracy? Where does it happen? I am not trying to criticise the president, I am only explaining the ideal situation that we should have. Let it not look like I am talking against the president.
“And look at it, the person that is asking the governor to declare his stance whether he is supporting the president or not, he claims to be a PDP member, he claims to be the PDP South-south zonal secretary,” the governor’s spokesperson said.
Diri’s relationship with Wike
What is today known as Bayelsa was a part of Rivers until the Sani Abacha military regime created it (Bayelsa) on 1 October 1996. Both states share a lot in common, culturally and politically.
Mr Wike, a former governor of Rivers, had been engaged in a protracted political fight with his suspended successor, Siminalayi Fubara, over the control of the political structures in the oil-rich state, a development that outraged many Nigerians.
Governor Diri is among the top Nigerian leaders who condemned President Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers as a fallout of the political fight between Messrs Wike and Fubara.
Like Governor Diri, Mr Wike is a member of the opposition PDP, but he has been working for Mr Tinubu and the ruling APC.
Many Nigerians believe that Mr Tinubu plans to use Mr Wike to prosecute his 2027 re-election campaign in south-south Nigeria.
READ ALSO: Throwback video shows Dele Momodu predicting Tinubu’s victory, now warns against second term ambition
Many opposition politicians, especially from the PDP, including Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, have defected to the ruling APC, raising concern that Nigeria may become a one-party state.
PDP is the ruling party only in Bayelsa and Rivers out of the six states in the south-south region.
While Mr Fubara remained suspended as governor because of the emergency rule in Rivers, Governor Diri, in June, dismissed speculations that he was planning to defect to the APC.
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