APC will sweep Bayelsa guber poll, Barigha-Amange boasts

Diri not satisfied with state’s development
Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange has expressed optimism that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will upstage the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State on November 16.

Barigha-Amange, a founding member of PDP who dumped the party for APC, said at the national secretariat of the party yesterday that PDP’s governorship candidate, Senator Diri Douye, lacked the pedigree to withstand APC’s David Lyon at the poll.He claimed that the absence of internal democracy in the Bayelsa chapter of PDP forced to dump the party.

Blaming Governor Seriake Dickson for the situation, he alleged, “When I was in PDP, we were enslaved by only one man who regarded himself as emperor. There was no political activity there, even if you want to be a councillor. The 105 councillors and eight chairmen were nominated by him. I cannot be part of such arrangement.

“I was one of the founding fathers of PDP in Bayelsa. I did not join the PDP; I took part in the formation here in August 1998 and I had been there since. But I have never seen this kind of authoritarian rule.

“So, I have decided to pitch my tent with a party that can uproot this from the ground, so that Bayelsans will be free, and I promise you, Bayelsans will be free come November 16, 2019.”

In another development, PDP’s Diri has expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of his party in the last 20 years, arguing that the level of development was not commensurate with the money that accrued to the oil-rich state.But he affirmed that the situation was much better than when the party came into power.Senator Diri blamed the slow development on the 13 per cent derivation fund, which he described as too meagre to develop the state due to its difficult terrain.

The governorship hopeful, while speaking with journalists in Yenagoa yesterday, insisted that the state, with its difficult terrain and huge contribution to the national economy, deserved more than 13 per cent.He promised to tackle the issue of electricity supply, when elected as governor, by seeking Federal Government’s approval to bring independent power projects to the state to assuage the suffering of the people.

“If Bayelsa is giving so much in terms of resources to the Federal Government, why are we having 13 per cent, which is nowhere close to developing the state, considering our terrain and environment? We should be talking about controlling our resources and paying taxes to the Federal Government. That is why I urge Bayelsans to join me in the crusade for abrogation of Land Use Act, because that is what has deprived the Niger Delta of its own wealth.

“In Bayelsa, we are sitting on gas, all major oil companies will be engaged to support our state and my government to solve the problem of power supply to our people,” he said.