Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has convened a peace meeting of leaders Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other stakeholders to resolve the simmering crisis generated in the party over the choice of running mate for their governorship candidate.
It was gathered that following the stiff resistance of party members and stakeholders against the choice of Senator Lawrence Ewrujakpor, who hails from Sagbama, Dickson’s Local Government Area, as a running mate to the party’s candidate, Douye Diri, the governor decided to consult critical members of the party.
The governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Fidelis Soriwei’ said the meeting would hold before the September 23 deadline for candidate substitution in the November 16, 2019 gubernatorial election.
Curiously, the statement was silent on the actual date for the meeting.
The governor said that the critical stakeholders of the Bayelsa PDP including him, former President Goodluck Jonathan, and other leaders would take a final decision on the issue of the running mate for the party’s candidate, Sen. Diri.
Dickson advised PDP members and supporters to be calm and focused insisting that a final decision on the issue of running mate would be taken after exhaustive consultations and deliberations with stakeholders.
The governor urged PDP members in Bayelsa to avoid playing into the hands of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) which he said carried the heavy burden of “an unmarketable” gubernatorial candidate.
He said that the APC was not on ground in Bayelsa and was only banking on violence and the Federal might during the elections.
He said that the controversy over the running mate was simply normal in politics which was not peculiar to the PDP and its candidate in Bayelsa.
The Governor noted that the APC ticket clearly showed a desperation to hijack the government of the state and run it by proxies.
