Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, on Monday said the state has made good progress that it does not need a governor colluding with oil multinationals to drag it back to the days of militancy.

Senator Diri, who spoke during the formal commissioning of his campaign headquarters and inauguration of the PDP campaign council, said the development of the state would be retarded if it is allowed to slip into the hands of political rejects.

A statement by the Dr. Jonathan Obuebite-led media and publicity committee of the campaign quoted Diri as also saying that the November 16 governorship election was between lovers of education and those who hate it as well as between those who are knowledgeable and those who lack it.

His words: “We cannot afford to leave governance to slip into the hands of political rejects. We cannot go back to Egypt. There will be consolidation of development in health, education, agriculture, social welfare schemes like the educational development trust fund, the health insurance scheme among others.

“We want to build on the report of the panel on the environment. You do not bring the sponsors of militants to be made governor if you want the state to progress.

“We took on AGIP and SPDC that they were unfair to our environment. Now they have devised a means to divide us to give contracts to people in order to intimidate us.

“This election is between lovers of education and those who hate it. It is between those who are knowledgeable and those who lack it. The election is about the larger Ijaw interest.

“We are saying that the alliance of the Federal Government and the oil firms is depriving our area of development despite what we produce and contribute to the national revenue. We are demanding more allocation, a fairer process of revenue allocation.

“We want a governor that can communicate effectively as well as relate with the international community. We are not going to communicate in Ijaw language.”

Urging the party faithful and its supporters to make the campaign issue-based, Diri said they should not be scared about defections.

“If we triumphed in 2015, we can still repeat it,” he said.

Also speaking, the Bayelsa State Governor, Honourable Seriake Dickson, called on people of the state to reject the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party was fielding what he described as incompetent candidates.

Dickson said the APC ticket represented militancy, terrorism and cultism and that such a government spells doom for the state.

According to him, the governorship election is not only about Senator Diri but also about the future of the state and Ijaw nation as a whole.

He noted that after five years in office, the APC had failed to put in place critical infrastructure in the state but rather succeeded in promoting instability in the communities.

“The election is not about me but about the future of the state. Senator Diri is a symbol of what we have to do to keep our state within the boundaries of sanity,” he said.

Chairman of the state PDP, Mr. Moses Cleopas, on his part, described the ticket of Senators Diri and Lawrence Ewhrudjakpor as experienced with the capacity to deliver the dividends of democracy.

Mr. Cleopas who also inaugurated the various campaign organs for the election, charged them to effectively mobilise people at the grassroots toward winning the governorship election.

In his acceptance speech, the Director General of the PDP Campaign Organisation, Dr. Nimibofa Ayawei, said the campaigns would be issue-based.

Dr. Ayawei urged the party’s members and supporters to carry the message of the PDP to every nook and cranny of the state to enable the party achieve victory in the election.

•PHOTO: Bayelsa PDP guber candidate, Senator Douye Diri, speaking during the formal commissioning of his campaign headquarters and inauguration of the PDP campaign council . . . on Monday

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