As the agitation for the political control of Bayelsa State in 2016 thickens, a socio-political organisation, Bayelsa Democratic Forum, has told the All Progressives Congress that President Muhammadu Buhari cannot save the party.
The BDF said in a statement at the weekend that the belief by the APC that Buhari would unleash federal might on the state was a mere deception.
The organisation alleged that the opposition political party planned to take over power through the back door with a view to perpetrating fraud by conniving with ghost workers to create a bloated wage bill to the tune of N6bn.
The BDF’s statement, entitled, ‘Bayelsa’s squalid nuisance’, was issued in Yenagoa and signed by its chairman, Tari Wellington, and Secretary-General, Ekpai Okurus.
Reacting to the forum’s allegations, the chairman of the APC in the state, Mr. Tiwei Orunimighe, described the allegations as baseless.
He urged Bayelsans not to be bothered by the antecedents of the group, saying that at the appropriate time, the group would discover the resolve of the APC to wrest power from their promoters.
Orunimighe said, “I do not even know the group. For now, they might not understand what the APC is doing. We do not believe in force, we believe in engaging the people.
“We are working seriously and at the appropriate time, the group and their sponsors will know the APC is a force to be reckoned with in the state. I urge the public not to be bothered by their antics and unfounded allegations.”
The group accused another group, the Bayelsa Peoples Consultative Assembly, of allegedly sponsoring the APC.
The BPCA, in its inaugural meeting in Yenagoa recently, said it was poised to bring the needed change in leadership of the state. The group, comprising politicians and some elders in the state, had vowed that the Seriake Dickson administration would be removed during the coming governorship election in Bayelsa.
But the BDF said, “A combination of the harsh economic realities as well as the recent loss of the Presidency by the PDP has opened up new opportunities for political adventurism by these persons.
“They believe that President Muhammadu Buhari will unleash the federal might against the former President’s home state of Bayelsa.
“They have long constituted obstacles to Bayelsa’s development and were known sponsors and promoters of a climate of vicious politics, thuggery and mindless militancy, which gave Bayelsa a bad name.
“They want civil servants and their collaborators to perpetrate fraud, including having ghost workers in their thousands and on several payrolls, thereby having a bloated wage bill to the tune of N6bn per month as was the case before the current government took steps to reduce it to N4bn.”
