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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
In the build-up to the November 11, 2023 Bayelsa governorship election, former President Goodluck Jonathan stepped out of his customary political cocoon and threw his weight behind the governorship ambition of incumbent governor, Senator Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). On two different occasions when he hosted Diri shortly before the polls, he urged the people to ‘’renew’’ Diri’s mandate by voting massively for him.
•L-R: Gov. Diri, former President Jonathan and his wife, Patience
For political observers, this endorsement by Jonathan in 2023 was the missing link in 2019 which gave the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, David Lyon the edge in the governorship contest then. According to them, for reasons best known to him, Jonathan was indifferent to the PDP governorship quest in 2019. He even hosted APC chieftains a couple of times in his house which further emboldened the APC chieftains in their quest to add Bayelsa to the states under the control of the party.
However, things were different in 2023. Though Jonathan hosted the APC governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva and other chieftains of the party including the party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, a couple times, his support for Diri was unmistakable.
Jonathan’s support for Diri had ruffled quite some feathers forcing some political commentators to accuse him of trying to play godfather in Bayelsa in his bid to curry favour from the governor. But in a swift response to the allegations against Jonathan, Diri who defended the endorsement of the former President while recalling their relationship when he served under him as Commissioner declared that Jonathan has never asked him for a favour.
‘’Let me make it clear that the former President has never asked me for anything. Some ignorant people were writing on social media that it was because of what the governor is giving to the former President. That is ignorant and very mischievous.
‘’If there is anything that I am convinced myself to do, I support him out of my conviction. The same thing with the immediate past governor. We must recognize our leaders because if we do not, when it comes to your turn, nobody will support you.’’
Jonathan would yet again stir the hornet’s nest when a few days after the declaration of Diri as the winner, he stated during a visit to the latter that he would have relocated his mother to Abuja if the governor had lost the election because of the insecurity that would have resurfaced in the state.
‘’We have passed through hell in this state and we ‘ve seen a little light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
For him, the progress the state has made which has waned it off the ‘’suffocating’’ level of kidnapping and cultism should be discouraged.
“We don’t want to go into an unnecessary crisis in the state. Results have been declared and we believe the election was conducted. We believe the governor won the election and we plead that people should accept it and work with the governor. Let all of us support him so that the state will move ahead. There should be nothing that will push the state backwards’’ Jonathan added.
His statement attracted instant rebuke from APC camp including the deputy- governorship candidate of the party, Great Joshua Maciver.
Maciver said he found it “disheartening’’ that Jonathan who was expected to be a like a father to all chose to ‘’endorse a specific individual during a political season.”
According to Maciver, the statement attributed to Jonathan over the relocation of his mother if Diri had lost the election was distasteful and has made him lose respect of supporters of APC and Sylva.
‘’Furthermore, I express my reservation regarding the former President’s statement about the planned relocation of his mother to Abuja had Governor Douye Diri lost the governorship election. This public speech openly demarketing Bayelsa State as unsafe and insecure is a sentiment that should not be voiced by someone of his stature,’’ Joshua said.
Following the heels of Maciver to reprimand Jonathan was the group, APC Elders council which in a statement signed by its secretary, Clarkson Ayebaepreye said the former President was facing “political midlife crisis’’
Ayebaepreye who criticised Jonathan for often visiting Creek Haven (Bayelsa Government House) stated that ‘’no former President has reduced himself to such standards.”
He declared that Jonathan should not pretend over his politics, noting that his personal hatred for the APC as a political party is clear.
On the defence of Jonathan was the state chapter of the PDP which in a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Ebiye Ogoli lambasted the APC for its response to Jonathan’s statement even when no name was mentioned by the former President.
According to him, the APC is yet to come to terms with its defeat and have resorted to disrespectful tirades against “Nigeria’s icon of democracy.’’
‘’ If anyone is suffering any sort of frustration or mental crisis, it is the Bayelsa APC and its candidate that are yet to come to terms with the shellacking they got on November 11. We advise them to lick their wounds with some decorum and not misdirect their anger towards an innocent statesman who spoke truth from his heart.
‘’ Our party again uses this opportunity to appreciate former President Jonathan for his gracious endorsement and unflinching support for our candidate as well as the Bayelsa people for standing solidly behind the PDP and the prosperity administration.’’
Jonathan who refused to join words against his critics has however during a New Year visit by Diri, reaffirmed his support in clear terms for the latter declaring that he has no apologies to any one for backing Diri.
According to him, aside from the fact that it was the right thing to do as Diri has the support of the majority of Bayelsans, the governor also deserved re-election because of his developmental efforts especially in the area of peace and stability in the state.
“I did what l did during the governorship election and l have no apologies to anybody because l know that the governor and his team were doing very well, especially in the area of peace and stability of the state. At the time, l became very worried.
“I have not said others did not do well. After all, l was also governor for a little less than one and a half years and also had my challenges.
“Since Diri came on board, the excesses of cult groups, particularly in Yenagoa, has reduced reasonably. If we must move forward, first and foremost, we must handle the issue of security in order to attract investors. I saw that the governor and his team had a vision and he needed to be encouraged to do another four-year term.”
Diri, aware of the crucial role the endorsement played, again acknowledged Jonathan’s intervention in securing victory.
“Your endorsement of a sitting governor was more than billions of naira. And so having secured that endorsement, we were very sure of victory. We are here to say a big thank you as that has brought stability in the state. So, with the kind of peace and security we have in our state, Bayelsa is ready for private investors to come in.’’
Political observers are of the view that the open confidence displayed by Jonathan towards Diri is a huge political capital which the governor must utilise and reciprocate by outstanding performance so as not to disappoint the former President and indeed Bayelsans.
