Just in : In-depth Analysis of the Crisis looming in Bayelsa PDP.

It was gathered that the mass defection rocking the Bayelsa PDP is said to have been fuelled by the outcome of the party’s governorship primaries.

The outcome of the primaries had been rejected by some aspirants, who accused the party of being biased.

For example, a former Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Timi Alaibe, is believed to be planning to ditch the PDP following the outcome of the Bayelsa State governorship primary.

Senator Douye Diri, an ally of the outgoing governor of the state, Seriake Dickson, was declared the winner of the primary.

Diri, who represents Bayelsa Central at the National Assembly, defeated 19 other aspirants to emerge as the PDP candidate for the November 16 governorship election in the state.

He polled a total of 561 votes to win the governorship ticket while Alaibe came second with 365 votes. Both Diri and Alaibe are from the same Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area.

Alaibe had complained about the number of delegates accredited for the primary, saying the newly-elected local government chairmen in the state were not expected to be allowed to vote.

He based his complaint on the non-compliance with the party’s constitution which gives a specific number of months occupiers of such offices are to spend before they could qualify as delegates.

‘‘But in total disregard for norms and laid down procedure, the party neglected that and allowed the impunity to reign. We will know how far that can take them,’’ a source close to the aspirant told one of our correspondents.

It was learnt that Alaibe was under pressure to dump the PDP and pick the ticket of another political party.

A loyalist of Alaibe, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he and others were waiting for the former presidential aide to take a decision on what to do.

‘‘We are waiting for him to return. Though his name is not yet with the Independent National Electoral Commission, there is a window for substitution of names,’’ the source added.

Alaibe heads to court, seeks fresh PDP gov primaries

Meanwhile, Alaibe has filed a suit at the Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, asking for the cancellation of the primary.

A statement on Saturday by the administrative secretary of the Timi Alaibe Campaign Organisation, Prof Seiyefa Brisibe, said Alaibe filed the application on Friday in his quest to redress the alleged “procedural flaws” which he claimed were recorded in the poll.

“The suit filed pursuant to Order 3 (9) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 seeking answers to questions bordering on obvious non-adherence to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act 2010, the PDP Constitution and Electoral Guidelines, by the state chapter of the party in the conduct of the ward congresses, inclusion of local government council officials in the delegates list and the procedure for inclusion of three ad hoc delegates,” the statement said.

In the suit with reference number FHC/YNG/CS/99/2019, the aggrieved aspirant listed as defendants the PDP; Senator Douye Diri, governorship candidate; the INEC and one Embeleakpo Alale for himself and representing the elected council chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors of the PDP who were allowed to be delegates at the elective State Congress of the PDP in Bayelsa State held on September 3, 2019.

“He wants the court to order the conduct of fresh primary election for the nomination and sponsorship of the candidate for the governorship election in Bayelsa State,” the statement added.

The emergence of David Lyon as the governorship candidate of the APC and the naming of a serving Senator, Biobaramakuma Degi-Eremienyo as his running mate, may further compound the PDP’s problem in the state.

Degi-Eremienyo, who is the senator representing Bayelsa East, was a commissioner for Local Government Affairs under the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan, when the latter served as the governor of the state.

The choice of Lyon’s running mate is also said to be generating more crisis for the party.

Dickson is said to be scheming to impose the senator representing the western senatorial district, Lawrence Erwujkpor, in order to pave the way for his emergence as the next senator.

PDP candidate says APC can’t win credible poll in Bayelsa

Diri, however, said the APC was not in a position to win a free and fair election in the state, even at the councillorship level.

He has, therefore, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies to remain neutral during the election.

Diri, who addressed journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said if there was a level playing field, the PDP would emerge victorious.

He said, “We have a fight ahead of us but I don’t see our opponents as being so strong on the ground to defeat the PDP. If we have a free, fair and transparent election, the APC cannot win even a councillorship election in Bayelsa State. It is all the hype about federal might by using the security apparatus to intimidate or using INEC to write results.

‘‘Our appeal is that the security agencies must be professional. INEC must remain an unbiased umpire. If there is a level playing field, the opponents are neither here nor there to contest in this election.”

He expressed his willingness to continue to reach out to the 20 aspirants that contested against him during the primary with a view to winning them to his side.

A participant in the PDP governorship primary, Mr Keniebi Okoko, had, however, identified frequent defections by politicians from one political party to another as the bane of democracy in Nigeria.