A group, Bayelsa APC Stakeholders’ Forum (BASF), has written an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the aftermath of the faceoff between Governor Douye Diri and the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.
In the letter signed by Chief Samuel Yousuo and Elder Ebigoni Gabriel, the chairman and secretary of the forum respectively, and made available to newsmen, the group alleged that the faceoff between Diri and Wike stemmed from alleged promise of northern leaders to Diri to be a vice presidential candidate to either the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, or Bala Mohammed, the governor of Bauchi State, in the 2027 general election.
The letter read; “Your, Excellency, you can recall that our group, Bayelsa APC Stakeholders Forum (BASF), had last year warned on the character of Bayelsa State governor, Senator Duoye Diri.
“We, the elders, had on behalf of the All Progressive Congress stakeholders, wrote to express our concerns and advised Your Excellency to be wary of any alliance between your good office and Governor Diri.
“Now we have it on authority that Governor Diri’s rage against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, was to massage the ego of some northern leaders that have allegedly assured him of the 2027 vice presidential ticket.
“He is being promoted to pair with either the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, or the Bauchi State governor, Alhaji Bala Mohammed.
“An insider further informed that the promise for Diri to run with either of the two Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains led to his emergence as the chairman of the South South Governors’ Forum, as he assured those dangling the VP kite of the region’s votes.
“To firm up his promise, Diri has allegedly embarked on keeping money for the 2027 project.
“Diri hasn’t judiciously managed the money accrued to Bayelsa which has reportedly unsettled key officers in the state.
“As part of non-judicious management of state resources, Diri came up with two white elephant projects, such as the 35,000-seater capacity stadium and a nine-floor secretariat, also estimated at over 100 billion naira, while the existing one that needs only refurbishing has been left to rot away.”
The letter continued; “Governor Diri’s two-prong approach, allegedly facilitated by the northern leaders, is that he runs with Atiku, who he believed he had in the bag, until Okowa displaced him for the 2023 race. The second deal is for him to run with the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohamed.
“There is also another deal, with a former president, who Diri has promised to nominate the next Bayelsa governor; all are to enable him get his support for the Atiku or Bala vice presidential ticket.
“It is also interesting to note that since Diri secured his second tenure, instead of using the huge sums made possible by President Tinubu’s government policies, to work for the state, Diri hardly stays in office to do his work.
‘Rather he has been off to different countries without any investment attracted to the state as should be expected.
“It is equally important to point out here that Governor Diri has made a mess of the Supreme Court pronouncements on local government council financial autonomy, by allegedly cornering the local government funds, even as he gives peanuts to the LGA chairmen.
“We need you to also know that everything about Diri is propaganda and this is what the northern leaders railroaded him into, to also fund all legal battles and take on Wike.”
The group also accused the governor of not only fighting the All Progressives Congress but also allegedly acquiring properties with the state fund.
It harped on how the governor allegedly betrayed PDP stalwarts in the past.
“We also recalled how he betrayed all the PDP bigwigs in the state that helped him, from former President Goodluck Jonathan, his predecessor, Senator Seriake Dickson, and Chief Timi Alaibe, who brought him from political oblivion to then president, Jonathan, and how Diri jettisoned Alaibe as soon as he got what he wanted.
“Diri should not be trusted, which has led many PDP members to distance themselves from him. As we speak, there are no serious PDP members with him in the state.
“But in his usual way, he found his way through your Chief of Staff, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila, and also to Speaker of the House of Representative, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, as well as some presidential aides.
“Also in his usual way, he has also been deceiving the Minister of State (Petroleum), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who he is deceiving that he will support while at the same time concluding an arrangement with others in Bayelsa East to support them for governorship.
“We heard that Diri has been busy paying his lawyer and friend to handle all Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s legal battles, just as he footed the Atiku/Okowa legal bills against you in all the tribunals and courts.
“The same Diri turned around after you won your presidential elections, and reached out to you through Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila, and the Speaker of the House of Representative, to beg for his reelection.
“He deceived Senator Lokpobiri and David Lyon to take him to Wike where he knelt down and begged for his reelection. This was because most Bayelsa PDP leaders that he betrayed had stayed away. With a little support from you, sir, Sylva could have won that election.
“We are asking you to fully support APC chieftains in the state.
“We are also asking you to direct the anti-corruption agencies to beam its light on Bayelsa treasury.
“Expectedly, government officials are complaining that the state treasury is being depleted through variations and sand filling contracts running into hundreds of billions of naira that are allegedly questionably awarded.
“This has led most of the officials transferring their services from the ministries of finance, works and state treasury, as the Diri’ administration allegedly has the highest number of variations from contracts original sum awarded.
“We are asking you to fully support APC chieftains in the state. We trust that you come to the aide of the state.”
