From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

Chief Dennis Otiotio- Odoni is the new chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State. An old war-horse, Otiotio-Odoni, a doctorate degree holder in law believes the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government of Governor Douye Diri is not ready for governance. He said Bayelsans are generally suffering under the government.

He picked holes in the governance structure of the state, noting that his party APC is ready to present a viable alternative to the PDP.

The considered view of many is that APC has not got it right in Bayelsa by playing its role as the opposition party; do you agree?

In a way, I would agree with you that the former leadership of the party has not done enough to showcase to the people of Bayelsa State that there is an alternative to the present governance and maladministration going on. It is the responsibility of the leadership of the party which is the State Executive Committee to show to the people of Bayelsa State that APC is an alternative.

This is why I decided to contest the Chairmanship of the party to enthrone a purposeful and effective leadership to show to the people that we can have it right, that we can have good governance in Bayelsa State. You know when we begin to celebrate mediocrity in governance in Bayelsa State, you do small roundabout, people celebrate; you do street light in a roundabout, people celebrate. That is not governance. I  was opportune to do my Masters in the United States; I did in the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. I lived in the city of Tulsa for two years and saw what the local government can do. The city council of Tulsa is doing more than what the Bayelsa State government is doing. For my PhD, I went to the United Kingdom specifically in Scotland. I attended the University of Aberdeen and I lived in the city of Aberdeen for four years and I saw what the City Council is doing in Aberdeen. I am not talking about the regional Scottish government. So governance is serious business and we need to put in people who are exposed, who are enlightened, and who have seen and, had experienced in other places so that they would be able to bring it to bear. For us to achieve and succeed in governance; we need to put people who mean business not people that have nothing at stake, people that do not know anything about governance.

As party Chairman of APC, I am going to ensure that candidates we present for any elective office are people we can trust, people who are competent, who have the experience, the charisma, dynamism to occupy those offices and not bring anyhow person, so that we begin to project a viable alternative government for Bayelsa State. So that people would see that PDP has actually done nothing and that the APC is here to give them good governance and real development.

Look at Yenagoa, we don’t even have water. The Ministry of Water Resources buy water from hawkers.  Till now, we don’t even have a viable plan yet we have water and rivers everywhere. In some cities in the US, their source of water is from the stream. They treat the stream water and supply to the citizens. Only few cities in US use ground water; majority use stream water. In Bayelsa, we have streams but we cannot utilise it. The government don’t know what to do.

What is your take on the perception that Bayelsa is 25 years and has not been able to put its best foot forward?

The worst governance period in Bayelsa State is from 2012 to the present time. Alamieyeseigha tried his best, he made his mistakes. Then Timipre Sylva came in. Timipre Sylva did a lot considering the challenges he was facing that time. What was coming into the state every month is like one tenth of what Seriake Dickson and the present Douye Diri government is getting. Despite the distractions he was facing, he was able to reposition the state towards infrastructural development. Believe me, if he had been given the opportunity to stay for a second tenure, I tell you that things would have been better. Look at the Peace Park, it was a nice place for people to go and relax.  Now it is a ghost of itself.

Before he became governor, Bayelsa had just two roads, the Julius Berger (Isaac Boro) and Mbiama- Yenagoa road; Sylva came in and awarded contracts of over 50 internal roads linking the two major roads. This was when people started building houses leading to development. Government alone cannot develop the state; government needs to create a conducive environment for private individuals to develop the state. Unfortunately when Dickson came in, he abandoned all the projects. For example, the Gloryland Drive to Onopa road was abandoned. The past nine to 10 years have been the worst in the history of Bayelsa State. In the last governorship election, APC won clearly and then by the instrumentality of the Court, Douye Diri was put in and he says he is a miracle governor. That is not miracle. Miracles are from God not from man. Douye Diri is a punishment to Bayelsa State. That is why you see that nothing is happening in the state because he was not ready for governance; he doesn’t know what governance is, and he doesn’t know what to do. He does not have any plan or strategy. He was just forced on the people of Bayelsa State. The people of Bayelsa are suffering for it. Money comes in, they spend, and they don’t have any strategic plan to develop the state.

Even in Government House, they don’t have water. For now, the basic thing the people need is water. Bayelsans need access to drinkable water. They don’t know what to do. So, we are assuring the people of Bayelsa State that in the coming elections, APC would field credible candidates that would articulate and bring together a concrete plan to develop the state not only Yenagoa, the capital city but the state as a whole.

But your party APC that wants to rescue the state is itself bedevilled by intra-party crisis to the extent that it has been factionalised between loyalists of Minister of State for Petroluem, Timipre Sylva and the former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri

There is no faction in Bayelsa APC.  There are some disgruntled elements that are trying to create the impression that that there is faction; there is no faction. Look at the purported secretariat; you know that was the campaign office of Lokpobiri when he was vying for governor. Everybody knows that when APC started in Bayelsa, our secretariat has been in Mbiama/ Yenagoa road.

One wonders what Lokpobiri’s problem is. Do you know what Sylva has done for Lokpobiri? When he was going for second term in the Senate, Sylva single-handedly put him there despite the opposition from the Presidency then and former National Security Adviser, General Azazi. Sylva felt that Lokpobiri is a promising young man that should be given the opportunity to represent the people of Bayelsa West and he supported him wholeheartedly to become Senator.

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In 2015, Lokpobiri was a member of the Goodluck Jonathan Presidential campaign council, but when APC won, Sylva single-handedly recommended him to President Muhammad Buhari to be the Minister from Bayelsa State. That time, the then state chairman of the party,  Tiwei Orunmighe and others were not happy. They felt that the position should be given to founding member of APC. After that, he wanted to become governor but Sylva said let us give the governorship seat to someone from Southern Ijaw, but Lokpobiri says no that heavens must fall, that is not how things are done. He(Lokpobiri) said if it is not him, then the party must fall, that is the genesis of the problem. He is ungrateful. There is no faction of APC in Bayelsa. As Chairman of the party. I am going to open our doors for aggrieved members of the party to come because we are even expecting more defectors from PDP. There are serving lawmakers both at the Federal and State level and appointees negotiating to come to APC.  For the aggrieved members, I am going to set up a strategic committee to engage them, listen to them and know their problems so as to bring all aggrieved parties back to the fold. I am taking it as a primary assignment to ensure that the party is unified.

As for Lokpobiri, what else does he want from the man after all what Sylva has done for him. His only grievance is that Sylva chose David Lyon over him, that is it and nothing more. He is welcomed back into the party anytime he wants to come.

There is an allegation against Sylva  that as the leader of the party  he favours only people from Bayelsa East. Is that true?

I am from Bayelsa East. I am from Nembe Local Government Area, I have a PhD in Oil and Gas, but I have not been given any appointment.  Sylva recommends people for appointment from across the state. For instance, the first appointment Sylva recommended in this Buhari government was Lokpobiri who is from Ekeremor Local Government Area, Bayelsa West. I was also qualified to be recommended that time but I was not recommended. There are several people who are better qualified from Bayelsa East to be recommended for Minister but they were not recommended.

In this government, we have had Bayelsans as acting Managing Director of NDDC, they were not from Bayelsa East. We have had Nelson Brambiafa from Sagbama, Bayelsa West and Pondei Amassoma, Southern Ijaw in Bayelsa Central. We have federal commissioners from Yemagoa , and other places.

Nembe Local Government people are also saying Sylva is not looking at them but looking at it from other areas. Therefore, people cannot say the only appointment is from Bayelsa East. The two appointments in Bayelsa East are the Minister himself and Executive Secretary of NCDMB, whom if we are sincere is the most qualified because the Act requires certain level of qualifications; so that appointments is not for politicians. It is for people who are qualified and have been in the industry. Simbi Wabote developed the local content policy for Shell. He is very experienced. That is why he is doing us proud at NCDMB. Aside that, there is no other significant appointment unless they are saying Sylva should not have become Minister. As far as I am concerned, the Minister has been just and equitable in the recommendation of people for appointments. There is no local government in Bayelsa that does not have an appointee in Buhari government.

Some party members have also complained about his leadership style; what is your take on that?

Sylva started his political career as a member of the old Rivers State House of Assembly. From then, he has been growing to become governor and now Minister. Do you think if he does not have a good leadership style he would be growing in his political career?  He is growing in his political career because one, he has favour of God and the people loved him. Do you see when he comes to Bayelsa State? Anywhere he goes, he has crowd of people following him. People complaining about his leadership are people that want to change the man, but they cannot change the man. The man has been like that since I knew him in 1990 when he contested the House of Assembly seat. He has been the same and it has endeared many people to him. The people complaining about his leadership style are people that want him to conform to their own style.

What is the selling point of APC in Bayelsa?

First, we have to realise that even when we were in Rivers State, we were always aligning with the centre. This is because we are a disadvantage people. Our population is small, our voting strength is small. It is important for us to align with the centre because that is when we can attract development to the state. I can tell you that the way PDP is going, in the next eight years, APC would still be in power. So, it is important for Bayelsa as a state to be on the same page with the central government.  If you want to construct a road to Southern Ijaw, Brass, Akassa, these are capital intensive projects, and Bayelsa State government does not have that kind of money. It is only when we link up with the central government that we can get these things done easily.

Secondly, PDP from the record we have seen in the past nine years lacked the capacity to develop this state. For instance the current government, what has it done for the past two years. The only thing the government would point to is the Edepie roundabout that they were able to fence it and put solar lights there. Whao! A state government bragging about providing solar lights for a roundabout when other state governments are constructing flyovers not one, not two, not three and commissioning them. Even the roundabout they could not do it, they have abandoned it.

Clearly, the PDP has demonstrated ineptitude and inefficiency in the management of our collective funds. And APC has a viable alternative and concrete development plan to develop this state.

What are APC chances in 2023 considering that one of your members, Daniel Charles representing Brass Constituency 1 defected to the PDP recently?

I can assure you that with me as the Chairman of the party, we are going to win at least 20 seats in the State House of Assembly.  Daniel Charles is my friend. It is unfortunate he did not tell me he was defecting.  I can assure you that in 2023 election, APC is going to take back that Brass Constituency seat. The people did not vote for PDP but the APC.

Look at the current House of Assembly; many do not even understand the essence of creating three arms of government. The essence of creating three arms of government is to enable the legislature to check the executive. Currently as we are, the State House of Assembly as presently constituted is an extended arm of the executive arm. Anything the executive sends to them, they just approve; the government wants loans and they approved without asking questions. And so the people are not satisfied with the level of service delivery in the state House of Assembly. Now, the people are getting more enlightened and more exposed; so by 2023, they would vote many of the current members of the House of Assembly from PDP out for APC. And like I said before, we are going to field very credible candidates that would win election for us.      Quote: “The people of Bayelsa are suffering for it. Money comes in, they spend, and they don’t have any strategic plan to develop the state. Even in Government House, they don’t have water. For now, the basic thing the people need is water. Bayelsans need access to drinkable water.