Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has called on his appointees to nursing political ambition ahead of the 2023 elections to resign.
Speaking during the State Executive Council meeting at Government House, Yenagoa, yesterday, Diri explained that such ambition was legitimate but it should not be at the expense of effective service delivery of his administration.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted him as saying that although 2022 is a political year, governance would not be sacrificed on the altar of politics.
He noted that the administration still had time to deliver on its promises before the next governorship election in late 2023 and that cabinet members eyeing other elective offices must not combine politics with governance, stressing that the development of the state should supersede politics.
The state’s helmsman said there would be a periodic evaluation of activities of various ministries this year to ensure that set targets were met.
He said: “We have few weeks to be two years in office. So, what is important now is what we have to show to the people of the state and to Nigeria in our two years in office and beyond it. What else can we still do as we still have time to still do more? The feedback from the people about our performance so far has been very encouraging.
“However, let me warn that any member of the state executive council that has one political ambition or the other to honourably resign. Any member of the cabinet that has such ambition should please send your resignation letter to Secretary to the State Government.
“It is legitimate for anyone to have ambition but we are one party, we are one government. Let not anyone’s ambition derail our governance and government. Just as we cannot stop anyone from having ambition, let no one stop the government from functioning.”
MEANWHILE, ahead 2023 campaign in Bayelsa State, a political group in the state, Bayelsa West Patriotic Front (BWPF), has asked Diri to remain committed to the principle of rotation in the Bayelsa West Senatorial District and base his actions on equity, fairness and sense of belonging.
The group, made up of politicians from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekeremor and Sagbama councils, urged the state government not to be deceived by encomiums showered on him during the Yelutide by Senator Seriake Dickson but must remain committed to the party.
The group maintained that the decision of Senator Seriake Dickson to re-echo the governor’s achievements were a suspicious move to curry favour and scuttle the existing rotation agreement in Bayelsa West District.
The National Coordinator of BWPF, Owei Ebiagbe, in a statement titled: “Bayelsa West and the politics of 2023 and 2024” claimed that despite the theatrics being displayed by the former governor in his bid to scuttle the existing rotational agreement, Diri should stand firm to uphold the peaceful co-existence in the ruling PDP.
He said that Diri must show true statesmanship and upright leadership qualities he is known for in the last two years.
