*Says Sylva Didn’t Support Lokpobiri’s Ministerial Nomination
*Bayelsa Gov’s Second Term Bid Acceptable Across Ijawland – Manager
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, continued his re-election campaigns in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state during the weekend with a promise to provide more developmental projects in the area.
Governor Diri made the promise as his campaign trail visited 14 communities in the three Ekeremor constituencies in three days.
They include riverine Tamogbene, Peretorugbene, Ndoro and Ekeremor main town, the local government headquarters.
The governor equally visited riverine Egbemo-Angalabiri, Ogbotobo, Aghoro and Agge, which is at the tip of the Atlantic Ocean as well as Lalagbene, Isampou, Aleibiri and Ayamasa.
He inaugurated a pavilion at Ekeremor town, a landing jetty at Ogbotobo, a concrete bridge at Lalagbene, internal roads at Aleibiri and Ayamasa as well as a newly built technical college also at Ayamasa.
Diri recalled how he promised that he will complete the 42.2km Sagbama-Ekeremor road, and expressed gratitude to God that he was able to deliver on the project in less than four years in office.
He said his performance in the local government stood him out as the candidate to get the support of people of the area in the November 11 governorship election.
He cited the shore protection project at Ekeremor town and internal road projects among others as some of his administration’s achievements in the area.
Commenting on the disqualified governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, the Bayelsa governor, who is maternally from Ayamasa, recalled how Sylva treated two prominent sons of Ekeremor, namely Peremobowei Ebebi, whom he removed as his deputy governor, and also tried to stop Senator Heineken Lokpobiri’s ministerial nomination.
Ebebi and Lokpobiri are APC members.
At Aghoro, Diri said the proposed Ekeremor-Agge road would connect the community while at Egbemo-Angalabiri, he assured that the road from Toru-Ebeni would be in the 2024 budget.
At Tamogbene, Peretorugbene and Ndoro, he thanked the people for their support and pledged not to let them down when re-elected.
He said: “What we have done in Ekeremor is campaigning for us. The roads, pavilion, shore protection, brand new technical college and more are all campaigning for us; unlike those on the other side that did not do anything during their time in office.
“I promised to complete the Sagbama-Ekeremor road during my campaign in 2019 and I delivered.
“I promise Aghoro people that the day we inaugurate the Sagbama-Ekeremor road, we will flag off the Ekeremor-Agge road and take over the construction of internal roads.
“Sylva removed our son, Ebebi. He also did not want our son, Lokpobiri, to be minister. He said it should be on hold so that when he fails he can have it. But thank God, today we have Lokpobiri as minister.
“Sylva does not deserve any vote from Ekeremor after his atrocities against people of the area. Sylva has been rejected by people of the state and even the court has said he is not qualified to be on the ballot.”
While inaugurating the newly built technical college at Ayamasa, the governor said it was in line with his administration’s policy shift to focus on vocational, technical and science education.
He noted that the technical colleges being built by his administration across the eight local government area would serve as the nucleus for the polytechnic at Aleibiri, which he said would add value to development of the community and the state.
In his remarks, Director-General of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship Campaign Council, Chief Mitema Obordor, who is the House of Representatives member for the Ogbia Federal Constituency, appealed to people of Ekeremor to dedicate November 11 to their son, Governor Diri, vote en masse for him and defend their votes, promising that he will do a lot more for them in his second tenure.
Speaking at the rally at Ekeremor town, Senator James Manager said Ijaws from all over Nigeria support the second term bid of Governor Diri.
Manager said he led over 150 Ijaw political leaders from Delta State to drum up support for the Bayelsa governor, saying it was the first time this was happening in Ijawland.
In their solidarity speeches, Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Emomotimi Guwor, House of Assembly members, Tare Porri (Ekeremor Constituency 1), Livin Meeting (Ekeremor 2), Deputy Speaker Michael Ogbere (Ekeremor 3), Chief Frank Omare and a host of others called on the people of Ekeremor to reciprocate Diri’s positive developmental gestures in the area by re-electing him for a second term.
More than 500 persons defected from the APC to PDP at the various rallies and were received by the state chairman, Chief Solomon Agwana.