Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

On the eve of the Bayelsa State governorship election, two contenders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Kenebi Okoko and Mr Ndutimi Alaibe, have criticised state party chairman Mr Cleopas Moses over taking “sides in a contest in which he is supposed to be an umpire.”

Moses had in a press statement alleged that Okoko and Alaibe were involved in vote buying and attempting to hoodwink delegates through fraudulent bank alerts.

He had called on the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practises Commission (ICPC) to investigate the duo.

Okoko, in a press statement he personally signed, expressed disappointment that Moses, who ordinarily should be neutral in the process of electing the party’s candidate, has embarked on a mission to destroy the party.

Related News

While denying the allegation of using fraudulent banks alert to hoodwink delegates, he absolved Governor Henry Seriake Dickson from the remarks made by Moses, pleading with the Governor to call the Chairman to order.

The statement read in part:

“If anyone is trying to hoodwink the delegates, it is Cleopas who has shown gross irresponsibly in handling the affairs of the PDP in the state. Our advice to him is to thoroughly search his conscience and retrace his steps where he lost his path in the interest of our party.

“By his recent actions and utterances, it is obvious that Cleopas is bent on destroying our great party. We, therefore, call on the national leadership of the PDP to call to order this man who has taken sides in a contest in which he is supposed to be an umpire. Cleopas should be called to order by the national leadership of the PDP or he will steadily destroy this party built by the sweat of founders of this great party.”

Alaibe, in a statement signed by the Administrative Secretary of the Timi Alaibe Campaign Organisation, Prof Seiyefa Brisibe, said: “This is no longer politics”, distancing himself from Moses’s allegations and calling on him to either provide evidence or apologise.