Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries in Bayelsa State, the party has warned aspirants against inflammatory statements.
It called on aspirants for the 2019 governorship election to be mindful of utterances capable of creating unnecessary tension and anxiety.
The party, in a statement signed by its state secretary, Chief Godspower Keku, said it was disturbed by recent media statements sponsored by some of the prospective aspirants.
According to Keku, the PDP-led government has worked really hard in the last seven years to ensure a stable political space devoid of the usual volatile atmosphere ahead of crucial elections.
He said the PDP remained the party to beat in the state and, with Governor Henry Dickson leading the party, it was poised to repeat the same feat it did in the 2015 governorship election.
Keku, who said that Dickson became the first PDP governor to win a highly contested and hard-fought re-election with an opposition party at the center against all odds, including the use of federal might, expressed confidence of vicory in the coming election.
The statement read in part:
“As the political space is beginning to charge up, the leadership of the PDP in Bayelsa will like to call on all intending aspirants for the governorship to be careful of their utterances.
“We have seen sponsored publications which in our view seeks to undermine the peace in the state. It is highly unnecessary the intentions of those behind it as any attempt to push it further will over heat the polity.
“The Restoration Government under His Excellency Governor Henry Seriake Dickson has worked hard to ensure political stability which has won the governor accolades at the national level. Unlike in the forgone past, we have elections just few months away and yet the usual heightened tension and anxiety are not in play.
“Let us remind those who need to know that we have the capacity to win elections over and over again. We did it in 2015 and in the just concluded state and national assembly elections and we will surely do it again. Governor Dickson is still the man on the saddle and he is firmly in charge of the party and the state.”