PDP blasts defectors, says Bayelsa people not with them

 Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the party would win the forthcoming gubernatorial election with or without those defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The State Chairman of the party, Chief Moses Cleopas, said in a statement on Sunday that the Bayelsa people and followers were not with the defectors who lacked the requisite character, principle and integrity.

Cleopas  who was reacting to the defection of the former deputy- governor of the state, Peremobowei Ebebi who attended the PDP governorship campaign flag-off on Monday, October 7 and defected to the APC over the weekend citing lack of internal democracy during the governorship primaries and high-handedness by the PDP leadership as reasons for his decision to resign from the party, said the defecting politicians are motivated by greed and the inordinate quest for political positions being dangled to them by the APC.

The party chairman said the PDP won the election convincingly in 2015 in spite of the spate of defections and would repeat the feat in the next election without such unstable characters.

Cleopas in a direct response to Ebebi’s allegations said that the difference between the party leadership and the defecting politicians was the lack of capacity to resist the temptation of suspicious political offers and even threats.

He recalled that the Governor Henry Seriake Dickson government regularized Ebebi’s position as a former Deputy Governor and approved a monthly pension of N2.5 million, for him which he has been collecting since 2012 till date in addition to other forms of material and financial support.

He said it was rather shocking that Ebebi whose nominee is still a serving Commissioner could come out to launch a scathing attack on the government and the party in the search for non-existent reasons to justify his defection to the APC because of greed and inordinate quest for political offices.

The party Chairman, Ebebi was among the first leaders of the party to make a strong case for the PDP governorship candidate, Senator Douye Diri, later discovered to be his cousin, as the best of the aspirants of the PDP to support in the primaries.

Cleopas said information at his disposal showed that Ebebi submitted several names for appointment and employment after the rally which was carried out as agreed.