As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) battle for the two vacant senatorial seats in Bayelsa State, supporters of former Governor Seriake Dickson are adopting different strategies to ensure that their principal emerges victorious in the October 31, 2020 by-election.
Dickson had, last month, returned unopposed as the candidate of the PDP in Bayelsa West, to slug it out with the former deputy governor of the state, Chief Peremobowei Ebebi, who had earlier clinched the APC’s ticket.
Aside Bayelsa West, election will also be conducted consecutively into the Bayelsa Central senatorial district on the same date. And the APC is banking on it success during last year’s governorship election to clinch the two seats.
The two senatorial seats became vacant last February due to the inauguration of Governor Douye Diri and his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo as governor and deputy governor of the state respectively.
Dickson is said to have prepared ground for his return to the National Assembly when he was still the governor of the state, a situation that made him bring his close ally, Ewhrudjakpo, who was his aide while he served as a member of the House of Representatives, and later, his commissioner for works while he was governor. He was positioned to replace Senator Foster Ogola during the 2019 general elections.
He also nominated Ewhrudjakpo as the running mate to Diri during the last governorship election in the state. He did this to ensure that the coast was clear for him to contest the by-election.
Although the situation did not go well with most political gladiators in that senatorial district and the state, as most PDP faithful worked against the party during the governorship election, however, with the Supreme Court judgement that nullified the election of the governorship candidate of the APC, Dickson’s strategy actually clicked by sheer luck.
Bayelsa West is made up of two local government areas, Ekeremor and Sagbama. The argument currently hangs on the zoning arrangement, in which Dickson’s Sagbama Local Government is said to be favoured since Senator Heineken Lokpobiri had done the two terms for Ekeremor between 2007 and 2015.
But supporters of the APC have dispelled the zoning debate, saying it is entirely a PDP arrangement.
Political calculation seems to work in favour of the former governor, but the popularity of the APC candidate, Ebebi, cannot be taken for granted, having served his people as Speaker of the State House of Assembly and deputy governor, as well as his political disposition as a grassroots man who has empowered many people from the senatorial district over the years.
Ebebi is from Ekeremor Local Government Area, and most of the party supporters, especially those from Sagbama, have threatened to work against the party if the APC decides to alter the age-long zoning arrangement in the district.
Dickson and his party, the PDP, are holding up to the breach of zoning arrangement by the APC in its campaigns. He has also promised to speak for entire Ijaw nation and not only Bayelsa West if elected.
Dickson is also banking on his achievements while serving as governor to clinch the senatorial seat. It was under him that an access road was constructed to Ekeremor town, thereby reducing the stress of citizens travelling home through river.
Already, some supporters of the APC in the district have promised to work for Dickson and the PDP to ensure that the zoning arrangement is maintained.
Leader of the APC grassroots mobilisation in Sagbama/Ekeremor, Mr Ebide Brown, told Daily Trust on Sunday that stakeholders of the party had to take the bold decision to save the people of the area from needless bitterness and division.
He said the senatorial ambition of Chief Ebebi, which is against the age-long zoning arrangement in the district, could hamper the existing peace in the area. He added that APC stakeholders in Ekeremor and Sagbama had earlier converged on Isampou community and agreed to prevent the political ambition of any politician from damaging the existing cordial relationship between the two local government areas in Bayelsa West senatorial district.
He said the stakeholders decided to embark on a comprehensive endorsement of Dickson because it was improper and unfair for the two National Assembly positions in the district to go to Ekeremor, which produced a current member of the House of Representatives, Fred Agnes.
He insisted the two seats in the National Assembly (Senate and House) were shared between Ekeremor and Sagbama, and the two had not gone to one local government area since the commencement of democratic governance in 1999.
But despite the zoning debate, if APC power brokers from both Ekeremor and Sagbama, such as Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Amb Felix Oboro, Pere Peretus, amongst others, work harmoniously, it would be one of the toughest political contest for former Governor Dickson.
The national leadership of the APC had, earlier in the week, inaugurated a reconciliation committee for members in the state, ahead of the by-election.
The committee, headed by the governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, is expected to unite members of the party ahead of the election.
Inaugurating the campaign team for Dickson recently, Governor Diri said his predecessor emerged as the choice of all stakeholders in reward for his sacrifice and service to his people. He added that with him, the PDP would win the election.
He named a political strategist from the senatorial district, Chief Fyneman Wilson as the chairman of the campaign team.
“I believe the former governor served his heart out; for that reason, all the people who matter politically in Bayelsa West have decided to support him, come sun, come rain. It is also a period of reflection.
If he had not done well, these elders and leaders would not gather here to be inaugurated as part of the team to send our former governor to the National Assembly,’’ he said.
Also, the chairman of the PDP in the state, Chief Solomon Agwanana, said the people of the senatorial district were unanimous in their belief that Dickson would provide effective representation in the Senate.
Similarly, Dickson’s opponent has been endorsed by some political gladiators in Sagbama, Dickson’s local government area.
In a meeting that was well attended by community and political leaders from the six wards that make up Sagbama constituency 3, participants said they preferred to follow Ebebi because he would represent their collective interest.
Also, some community leaders from Sagbama ward 8, led by Mr Pamo Kakandar and Mr Mavis Dakolo of ward 6, from Agbere town, are in support of the former deputy governor.
A political leader from Sagbama, Ebamogha Empere said, “We have tried certain persons in the National Assembly and all we got were complaints. These are the same persons coming to say they want to go back to the National Assembly. We have tried them and they failed woefully.
If you really want to know who Peremobowei Ebebi is, go to the grassroots and ask the average person and they will tell. His major qualities are accessibility, unassuming personality, humanitarian services; and he is generous to a fault. If Ebebi sees you walking without shoes, he wouldn’t mind giving you his own and go home barefooted. That is the kind of person we are talking about,’’ he said.
Also, a former chairman of Toru-Abubou Rural Development Area, Benafegha Tonkumo, who hails from Trofani community ward 9, said they decided to choose Ebebi as a sole candidate for the by-election because of his antecedents.
Meanwhile, Dickson’s kinsman, Owoupele Eneoriekumoh, has filed a suit in a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the disqualification of the former governor.
He is alleging that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Form EC9, which Dickson submitted to the commission, contained false information.
A senatorial by-election will also be conducted in Bayelsa Central, which comprises of Southern Ijaw, Yenagoa and Kolokuma/Opokuma local government areas. Judging from the voting pattern during the last governorship election in the state, it may be an easy ride for the APC. Chief Abel Ebifemowei of the APC is contesting against Moses Cleopas of the PDP.
