The Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Support Group has accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, and his wife Patience of making surreptitious moves to cause confusion in the PDP by falsely encouraging multiple governorship aspirants to enter the race.
The group said this is to make the party lose the upcoming election. Group coordinator Isaac Ipidei, in a statement on Wednesday, said while Jonathan invited many prominent Bayelsans (with the pretext that he was supporting them), to join the governorship race, the ex-first lady and his close political ally, King AJ Turner, have been meeting with Chief Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ipidei called on the national leadership of the PDP to note “the dangerous duplicity of Jonathan and his political camp, and so take requisite steps to avert any threat to PDP’s victory at the November 16 governorship polls”.
He called on the national leadership to take the expected measures to halt the action linked to the former President to prevent him from repeating the PDP loss of political power at the centre in his native Bayelsa.
According to Ipide, it was rather curious that Jonathan, who rode to the peak of his political career on the platform of the PDP, would sponsor opposition candidate to subvert the party’s chances for reasons known to him. He urged the PDP family in Bayelsa to be wary of the former President, who he accused of deliberate refusal to support the party financially or morally during its moments of trial and during crucial elections since 2012.
According to him, Jonathan refused to support the PDP campaign in the last election, but opted to support opposition elements from the APC and the ADC. He said the National leadership of the PDP would not probe for long before they realise that Jonathan, his wife, and cronies are sponsoring litigation in favour of defeated candidates of other parties sponsored by them in the last election.
He added that the former President refused to speak out when the party came under attack from the military, and a PDP Ward Chairman, Mr. Seidougha Taribi, and a Government House photographer, Reginald Dei, were murdered in Southern Ijaw.
The statement reads: “The PDP Support Group is constrained to make these comments about our former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, whose actions are bothering on sabotage in the coming primaries of our great party.
It is sad that Jonathan is not playing his expected role as a former President and leader; he does not support the party in any way, yet encourages several politicians to indicate interest in the governorship of the state on the pretext that he is supporting them; this is just to create confusion.
A number of the aspirants are traceable to him, his wife, his friend, King AJ Turner. In spite of this, they are constantly meeting with Chief Timipre Sylva. We wish to alert our national leaders that this unnecessary duplicity on the party of the former President is a threat to the party in the next election which should be stopped forthwith.
His indecisiveness and the same confusion led to the party’s loss of at the centre in 2015 when he allowed a solid cohesive national party handed over to him to disintegrate under his watch. It is unfortunate that he is back to his game. He has never supported the rebuilding of that party in Bayelsa, and he is now back to destroy it.”
