Politics

PDP, APC and battle royale for Dickson’s job

ALL eyes are on Bayelsa State as the electorate are set to take cast their votes for the candidates of their choice in the November 16 governorship election. While many parties are fielding candidates for the election, all eyes are on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), being the big masquerades in the race to the Government House in the state.

With less than two months to the election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigeria Police and other security agencies are already putting finishing touches to preparation. This is as the political parties are also girding their loins, with each of the gladiators, criss-crossing every nook and cranny of the state, campaigning to convince the electorate on why their party and candidate should take over the affairs of the state from Governor Seriake Dickson.

The atmosphere in the state is tense as the two major parties in the election, the PDP and the APC, are trying to resolve the crises that emanated from their internal elections to pick candidates. Bayelsa has been under the firm control of the PDP since 1999 until when the APC made an inroad during the last general election. In the said election, the APC successfully wrestled two House of Representatives seats out of five from the PDP. The party also won one senatorial seat out of three, whereas it had none in 2015. Despite the electoral setback, the PDP has vowed to maintain its hold on the state in subsequent elections.

As the state seems set for the election, the fear being expressed by some politicians, especially those in the opposition camp, is how the INEC and the security agencies will carry out their duties without fear or favour. A political analyst, Mr Jide Ojo, admonished the INEC to wield the big stick and prosecute any candidate or political party that may want to test its resolve to conduct a peaceful and credible election.

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“The law is on the side of the electoral body aid it should exercise the powers vested in it by the laws. Also, it must, like Julius Caesar’s legendary wife, be above board. It should avoid the pitfalls of the 2019 general election. Issues around the voter register, voting point and voting point settlements, as well as logistic challenge of late deployment of election materials and personnel and the weaknesses observed in result collation and transmission must be fixed ahead of the November 16 elections,” he said.

The question being asked by analysts and watchers of political events in the creek state is whether the APC will be able to consolidate its gain in the 2019 elections and, for the first time, take over the control of the ‘Creek Haven’, which has been the abode of the PDP in the last 20 years or whether the PDP’s big shots, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, will allow the APC to take over what has been known as their traditional stronghold.

Incumbent Governor Dickson has promised that the PDP would not surrender the state to the APC. Many leaders of the state across party divides also agree with him because of the transformation he has been able to bring to the state in the last eight years. One of the party leaders, John Etu, who has been living in Yenagoa for almost 10 years, believed Dickson had brought unprecedented development to the state, saying “that is why he (Dickson) would wish to produce the person that shouldsucceed him and consolidate his achievements.”

The PDP candidate for the election, Senator Douye Diri, who is currently representing Bayelsa Central in the Senate and who is also a former member of the House of Representatives, is a grass root politician who understands the terrain, having been consistent in the politics of the state since 2012. He has served as the commissioner for Youths during the first term of Governor Dickson; he won elections into the House in 2015 and the Senate in 2019.

Diri will undoubtedly benefit from Dickson’s popularity and firm control of many local government areas in the state. The chances of the PDP candidate will further receive a boost by the fact that the governor has positioned experienced politicians in strategic areas of the state to deliver victory to the PDP. Some analysts believe that the Restoration Group that produced Douri is well-rooted across the state.

On the other hand, while some people say that the APC candidate, Chief David Lyon, is not that known in the politics of the state, as he has never held any political office, others think that he has a good chance, pointing out, however, that Diri had, no doubt, been a familiar name in the politics of the state.

Nevertheless, Lyon’s philanthropic gesture is well attested to as many youths have benefited from his oil surveillance structure contract. Also, he is from South Ijaw, a local government area with the highest voters’ base in the state. He is seen as the one that facilitated huge votes for the APC in the March 2019 elections and many APC stalwarts believe that his financial strength and closeness to the former militants in the creeks will bring victory for the APC.

As Bayelsa people eagerly await the election day, it is clear that the race is between the APC and its candidate, Lyon and the PDP and its candidate, Douri. But while the APC is trying to put down its foothold in the state, the PDP needs to resolve its internal crisis and the road to the ‘Creek Haven’ will be smooth.

Reflecting on this, a chieftain of the PDP in the state, Chief John Evah, said the PDP would have no problem winning the election as, according to him, all the aggrieved aspirants and their leaders had been reconciled. “The PDP in Bayelsa is one big family. You know Governor Seriake Dickson led the reconciliation team of the party after our convention at the national level. So, we have no problem. Come November 16, we are going to record a landslide victory,” Evah said.

But Ayobami Adetona, a public affairs analyst, who is sympathetic to the APC, was not that optimistic about a PDP victory as he said; “They (PDP) will receive the shock of their lives. November is just like tomorrow.”

Indeed, it would be foolhardy to say the PDP should take the things for granted as the day of reckoning approaches. However, while politics is not rocket science, indices on ground indicate that the APC and its candidate will have to burn the midnight oil in their efforts to dislodge the PDP from the Government House in November.