Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The die is cast as political gladiators in the All Progressives Congress (APC) slug it out in the governorship primaries scheduled for this weekend to pick the party’s standard bearer in the November 16 governorship election. From a report of the gubernatorial primary election screening committee headed by Isa Song, the following governorship aspirants were cleared in order of appearance by the panel. They include Mr Aganaba Preye Steven, Prince Ebitimi Christopher Amgbare, Ms Dieseye Nsirim Poweigha and Mr David Lyon Pereworimini. Others are Prof (Mrs) Ongoebi Maureen Etebu and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri. With the quality of aspirants, the stage is set for an interesting political contest.
Party members and Bayelsans looking towards a pulsating contest with the hope that former governor and now Minister of Petroluem, Chief Timipre Sylva would throw his hat into the ring were disappointed when he declined to contest. However, the entrance of Chief David Lyon into the governorship race raised the stakes as party members prepare to pick their governorship candidate amid intriguing factors.
The Candidates
Aganaba Preye:
Aganaba’s foray into politics in Bayelsa State started in 2014 when his mentor, former governor and now Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and others defected to the newly formed APC. In 2015, Aganaba, one of the founding members of Bayelsa from Odi in Kolokuma/ Opokuma Local Government Area of the state was the APC candidate for Bayelsa Central Senatorial district but lost the election. In the governorship election later that year, Aganaba attempted to contest the primaries but was muscled out by Sylva who had the backing of the national leadership. A graduate of Computer Science from the University of Science and Technology, Aganaba’s foot soldiers believed he is the right person to lead Bayelsa APC into the governorship battle. Scores of women and youth groups especially from Bayelsa Central have endorsed him for the ticket, pointing out that he is a politician without blemish that can offer a fresh start for Bayelsa State.
However, Aganaba’s association with Amaechi is a political albatross that has continued to limit his political growth in Bayelsa State. He has not denied his relationship with Amaechi whom he refers to as a friend and brother with sterling qualities that are worth to emulate but has consistently dismissed talks of Amaechi influencing his political decisions. Nonetheless many Bayelsans especially members of APC don’t regard him as one of their own as they believed he belongs to the faction of Bayelsa APC members that look up to Amaechi for political direction.
More importantly, political observers believe Aganaba has a weak political structure to prosecute the Bayelsa governorship election. His political team headed by former speaker and acting governor of the state, Nestor Binabo has not won any election for the APC in the state. Even within the Bayelsa APC, they are outsiders. Their attempts to hold parallel congress in the build up to the 2019 general elections fell flat on its face. And in the 2019 general election, their wards fell to PDP just like in 2015.
Prince Ebitimi Christopher Amgbare:
A cousin to the late former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, Amgbare a former football player from Sagbama in Bayelsa West senatorial zone was the former Commissioner of Sports in the Alamieyeseigha administration. He was strongly tipped to become governor if Alamieyeseigha had served out his tenure in 2007. When Sylva became the PDP candidate in 2007, Amgbare defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and ran against Sylva. Even when INEC declared Sylva winner, Amgbare working in cahoots with some powerful forces in Abuja headed to the Court and forced a re-run election which Sylva won again. He has been quiet politically until lately when he indicated interest to run for the governorship election, fuelling suspicion that he is being used by the opposition to play a spoiler role in the APC through litigation considering the fact that he is from Governor Henry Dickson’s local government area. According to sources, Amgbare who is not known in APC circles in the state was said to have reactivated his political contacts in the old ACN to help him prosecute his governorship ambition.
Ms Dieseye Nsirim Poweigha
Nothing much is known politically about the Kolokuma/Opokuma-born Cop other than she was a former police commissioner of Niger State until her retirement. Her connections in APC are not strong. Though she has been campaigning for the ticket, arguing that APC should give women a chance, her seriousness is making close observers to believe she is a pawn being used by some unseen political forces.
Mr David Lyon Pereworimini:
He is an Oil Magnate and big time player in the Nigeria oil industry. He is popularly known as David Lyon by admirers. Lyon from Olugbobiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, which is the largest in Bayelsa State has been a household name in Bayelsa APC since he joined before the 2015 governorship election. His journey into politics began when he was elected the youth leader in Olugbobiri community before being caretaker chairman of Apoi/ Olodiama Development Centre. He was an aspirant for the Bayelsa State House of Assembly for Southern Ijaw Constituency IV in 2011 until he was prevailed upon to step down for Friday Konbowei Benson who then wanted to go for a second term. His defections from PDP to APC in 2015 caused a political quake and changed the dynamics of politics in Southern Ijaw.
Lyon, an unassuming and humble politician has grown his business over the years which he has used to employ over 7000 youths across the state. Sources said Nigeria Agip Oil Company(NAOC) and indeed the Federal Government are eternally grateful for Lyon for using his company, Darlon Security and Guards to curb oil theft/ Illegal oil bunkering in Bayelsa State which has ultimately boosted oil production in the country. Not only that, his major selling point is his philanthropy which over the years through David Lyon Foundation has empowered thousands of Bayelsans through scholarships to acquire education from primary to tertiary levels. He was said to have given grants to all the widows in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, pays salaries to the aged and gives grants to the disabled. It is said that across party lines in the state, many people have good things to say about Lyon for his kindness which his supporters insist would count for him if he emerges the APC governorship candidate. His entry into the governorship race altered dramatically political permutations even in the PDP. The excitement his political ambition generated was instant as many of the beneficiaries of his goodwill over the years became campaign volunteers on Social Media.
His critics have however argued that Lyon who does not have a University degree is not the ideal person to fly APC governorship flag given the array of aspirants in both APC and PDP that parade PhD and other higher University degrees. They also contend that Lyon is not a core politician who can campaign for votes. But his admirers have countered such criticisms, stating that bagging a University degree is not only the criteria for education and not a yardstick to gauge performance in leadership and capacity to govern. They argued that Lyon as CEO of business outfits and interacts and seals deals with expatriates in the sophisticated Oil Industry is more than qualified to be governor because he has the capacity to lead and assemble a team to deliver good governance to Bayelsans in line with his dream of development.
Prof (Mrs)Ongoebi Maureen Etebu:
The Odi-born professor of Chemical Engineering was former Commissioner during the late Alamieyeseigha administration. The Vice-Chancellor of the Maritime University, Okerenkoko is not known to be an active politician. Close observers of APC politics in the state believed she is being used as a front.
Senator Heineken Lokpobiri: Former Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, two-time Senator and immediate past Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lokpobiri from Ekeremor Local Government Area remains arguably the best prepared governorship aspirant in the 2019 governorship election given the time he declared for the governorship race and set up his campaign structures. Lokpobiri, a doctorate degree holder is vastly experienced with 16 years of public service under his belt and has built political structures across the eight local government areas in the state.
According to political pundits, Lokpobiri’s era as Speaker witnessed vibrancy in the Bayelsa polity which can be replicated once he becomes governor. It has been argued that his political CV and campaign manifesto towers above any other aspirant in the APC as he has shown through his vision that he knows where he wants to take Bayelsa to in the next four years. Moreover, projects executed across rural communities in the state during his tenure as Minister is being used by his supporters as evidences of his passion and commitment to the development of Bayelsa State.
Critics have however faulted his aspiration on the basis that he is from the same Bayelsa West senatorial district with incumbent Governor Dickson and APC handing over the party ticket to him would jeopardise the chances of the party. Also, they point to the fact that Lokpobiri seems to have lost his political skills since he has found it hard to overcome Dickson in all electoral contests since 2015. But pro- Lokpobiri loyalists insist that zoning has never been a determinant of the winner of the governorship seat of Bayelsa State.
They say Lokpobiri has been a faithful and loyal party man and that he still has the grassroots support which was not visible in previous elections because of the fact that he was not on the ballot. His supporters have reminded people that since he ventured into politics, Lokpobiri has never lost any election he contested.
The APC in the 2019 elections through the leadership of Sylva were able to give PDP a stiff challenge, winning 3 seats in the National Assembly and four seats in the State Assembly. Again, the November 16 governorship elections offer another opportunity for the party to test its strength and feelers from the party hierarchy indicate that they are politically battle-ready.