The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State has constituted a nine-member committee to reconcile aggrieved members of the party.
The reconciliation panel is coming on the heels of the recent primary election where Senator Douye Diri emerged as candidate of the party for the November 16, 2019 governorship election in the state.
Senator Diri defeated 20 other aspirants in a keenly contested primary.
Chairman of the party, Mr. Cleopas Moses, said in a statement that the committee will be inaugurated at noon on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 by Governor Henry Seriake Dickson.
Moses noted that there was need to carry all members of the party along and ensure its unity ahead of the governorship election.
The committee will be chaired by Senator Inatimi Rufus-Spiff with a former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Gideon Ekeuwei, as secretary.
Other members are Senator Emmanuel Diffa, Chief Bright Erewari-Igbeta, Hon. Darius Obiene, Chief George Okiriyan, Chief Israel Igbori, Hon. Solomon Agwanana and Millionaire Asangba.
In a related development, the party chairman urged members to remain steadfast and not listen to the propaganda and blackmail being spread by the opposition in the state.
He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) lacks the capacity and a marketable candidate to win the governorship election in the state.
His words: “The APC cannot and does not have the capacity to win in Bayelsa. It does not have a marketable governorship candidate that Bayelsans will accept and support.”
Moses noted that the recent appointment of Bayelsans as Minister of State (Petroleum) and an Executive Director in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was to entice people of the state with bogus promises that they cannot keep.
He thanked leaders of the party for their understanding and for remaining resolute as key stakeholders.
He recalled that during the last governorship election in the state in 2015, no fewer than 100 leaders had defected to the opposition by this time.
“In 2015, about this time of the governorship election, over 100 leaders of our party had openly defected. Yet our governor led the party to victory against even a more experienced opponent, Chief Timpre Sylva.
“This time, there has been no massive defection of major stakeholders. So party members should not be disturbed by rumours of defection. This is the normal tactics of the opposition in the state.
“There are more litigations and crises within the APC than the issues our members are raising. Our party has set up processes to reconcile all of these. When the campaigns start, Bayelsans will have a clear choice to make between our candidate and that of the other party,” he said.
