Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri, and the immediate past minister of state for petroleum resources, Timipre Sylva, have clashed over the lingering political crisis rocking the Opu-Nembe kingdom in Nembe local government area of the state.

While Sylva, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11 governorship poll in the state, said the governor’s fresh plot to destabilise Opu-Nembe would fail, Diri accused Sylva of playing the ostrich in the community crisis.

Sylva in a statement signed by his special adviser, media and publicity, Julius Bokoru, alerted security agencies and members of the public of a fresh plot by Governor Douye Diri to stoke a fresh crisis in Opu-Nembe ahead of the November 11 governorship election.

He said Diri had been the hand behind the Opu-Nembe bloody crisis in the past two years.

Insisting that the governor had shown nothing but absolute disdain to the people of the area, Sylva said Diri was only interested in keeping Opu-Nembe in crisis because it is the stronghold of the APC.

Sylva said upon his return from junketing abroad, Diri was angry to behold that the Inspector-General of Police hearkened to the outcries of the people and restored calm in Opu-Nembe.

He said: “It is very concerning that Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has become obsessed with Opu-Nembe, a community for which he had shown absolute disdain. If you ask Governor Diri to point to one project he has done in Opu-Nembe, be assured he cannot point to half a project.

“Many believe, however, he has been the hand behind the crisis in Opu-Nembe for the past two odd years. He clearly showed his leprous hand earlier this year. Before the elections became eminent and before Sylva emerged as the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, Governor Diri had shown only contempt for Opu-Nembe.

“It is quite disturbing that Governor Diri only woke up from his slumber at this time when at the plea of the community the Inspector-General of Police waded in and got the community back on its feet again.”

Governor Douye Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, while reacting to the statement credited to the former Bayelsa governor, in which he accused the incumbent governor of stirring crisis in Opu-Nembe (Bassambiri), said Sylva was embarking on a futile mission to deflect attention from his own disdainful role in the protracted conflict.

He said it was a surprise that Sylva just found his voice one month after the current crisis broke in the community.

Diri said: “It is equally befuddling that Sylva was engaging in scapegoats when virtually everyone in the state and beyond knew who the key instigator and agent-provocateur in the Bassambiri crisis was.

“To claim that the governor had been silent, in one breath, since the current skirmish was ignited in Chief Sylva’s paternal community two years ago, smacks of either his poor analysis of the situation on the ground or perhaps he is ignorant of the governor’s role in ensuring that peace returned to Bassambiri.

“For the former governor to also turn around to accuse the incumbent governor of stirring crisis in the community, on the other hand, is an indication that Sylva had forgotten what a governor needed to do in such a circumstance and he, therefore, does not deserve the votes of the Bayelsa people on November 11.

“Bassambiri is a community in Bayelsa State whose citizens deserve the protection of the state government just as the community deserves development like all its counterparts across the state.

“Our administration will therefore not shy away from its constitutionally guaranteed mandate and responsibilities to people of the state, including those in the Bassambiri community and the Nembe people as a whole.

“It is doubtful if the Bassambiri people can recall any of Sylva’s legacies in their community, except perhaps the frequent conflicts instigated and perpetrated by persons known to him and who enjoy his protection.” (The Nation)

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