Bayelsa guber: Diri promises succour for flood-ravaged communities

-Rousing welcome as PDP begins constituency campaigns

Posted by Tony Okechukwu

Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has promised to tackle the perennial flooding in the state and the devastation it brings when elected into office.

Senator Diri also pledged to engage the Federal Government over the issue of release of the ecological fund for such natural disasters.


Diri and his running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, got a rousing reception on Tuesday as they commenced their campaigns outside the state capital with visits to communities in Constituency 2 and 3 under Yenagoa Local Government Area.


A mammoth crowd turned out at the Okordia school field, which hosted the Biseni, Okordia and Zarama communities under Constituency 3, to receive the duo and his entourage, which included speaker of the state assembly, Hon. Monday Obolo Bubou, the party chairman, Mr. Moses Cleopas, director-general of the campaign, Dr. Nimibofa Ayawei, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Remi Kuku, and other prominent leaders of the party from the state and the area.


Senator Diri, while addressing the crowd, said as a chief and title holder in Biseni clan, he was at home with people of the area.


He expressed appreciation to the Biseni, Okordia and Zarama people for first electing him into the House of Representatives and later into the Senate as well as for supporting the PDP to also massively win the House of Assembly election.


Diri said he understood the challenges of the area, especially the issue of flooding and lack of potable water, which he promised to address when elected into office.


"I was preparing to come and thank you for electing me into Senate before your people called me again to run for the governorship. I therefore appreciate your support and the confidence you have in me as a son whose community, Sampou, is close to Biseni.


"I know the challenges of this area because I'm always here. I have inlaws, brothers and sisters here. I know one of the challenges is potable water. This will be one of our priority projects when you elect us into office.


"Hon. Gentle Emelah spoke about the school (in Okordia). This campaign is also about our schools and how to promote the education of our children and youths as against those who buy certificates they cannot even teach with in primary school.


"It is about how we can enhance and consolidate on the schools that the restoration government has already built. We will have to build more schools, equip them and complete the ones that are yet to be completed. Our campaigns will continue to be issue-based. So the issue of our schools is paramount to us."


While commiserating with the people over the devastation and displacement caused by flooding in the area, particularly in Biseni, Diri said one of the tasks his administration would handle is to engage the Federal Government on the release of the ecological fund to the state so that the issue of the annual flooding in parts of the state would be addressed once and for all.


"We will not make fortuitous promises that we cannot fulfil. For me and my running mate, the issue of flooding is paramount. Biseni, Sampou and other communities in the state ravaged by flooding will be beneficiaries of the solutions we would provide."


He appealed to the people to vote for the PDP by thumb-printing the umbrella symbol on the ballot paper on November 16. That way they would have voted for him and Ewhrudjakpo.


He also urged them not to be intimidated by anyone and that they should stand to defend their vote after casting it.


His running mate, Ewhrudjakpo, who spoke in parables to underscore the place of PDP in the area, said the Biseni, Okordia and Zarama people had always stood with and behind the party and that he believes the governorship election would not be different.


"You do not compare gold with beads just as you do not destroy your home in the city because you want to build the one that is in the village. It is only a foolish man that will ask his son to climb down from a tree where he is plucking good oranges to allow another man's son to take over," Ewhrudjakpo said.


He asked if the people would allow Bayelsa to be governed by those who do not mean well for the state by presenting a candidate that is barely literate and had not been able to show where he taught even with his claim to be an NCE graduate.


"This person also claims to be a businessman but we know how he runs his so-called maiguard's (security man's) business."


He described Diri as a manager that had been tested and proven to be capable and had shown capacity for good governance over the years.


The party chair, Cleopas Moses, who thanked the people of the constituency for voting Diri into the House of Reps and also into the Senate, said the party's governorship candidate had been an outstanding representative of the area.


He added that now that he is vying for the governorship, they should also support him to continue to deliver the dividends of democracy and good governance.


"This constituency had always been won and represented by the PDP either at the state or national legislature even before I became chairman of the party. I urge you to continue to support the party and the man that you have tested more than once and did not disappoint you," Cleopas said.


On his part, the campaign director-general, Dr. Nimibofa Ayawei, described Diri as a man that has dedicated himself to the service of God and humanity, and who had also done a lot for the people both as a politician and a public servant.


"He started as a teacher and has risen to become a Senator. So he has been properly prepared for leadership unlike the candidate of the other party.


"Diri is going round the state telling the people what he has to offer Bayelsa. Our campaign is issue-based. That is the irreducible minimum we expect from every candidate in this election.


"Deploying guns, bullets and violence in the election cannot guarantee victory. In 2015, some persons resorted to killings but at the end of the day they did not win the governorship election. I urge Bayelsans to reject violent politicians and those who kill because of election. God will not allow that to happen again," he said.


The campaign trail later visited the Gbarain-Ekpetiama communities under Constituency 2 where an ecstatic crowd also received the team at Ogboloma.