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Says my mother would have relocated too
Former President Goodluck Jonathan claimed that insecurity would have worsened in Bsyelsa State if incumbent Governor Douye Diri did not emerge victorious in the November 11, 2023 off cycle gubernatorial election.
He also disclosed that his mother would have been made to relocate out of Bayelsa State if another candidate had won the contest
The Independent National Election Commission (INEC) declared Governor Diri as defeating his All Progressives Congress (APC) opponent, Timipire Sylva,, to secure a four-year second tenure.
Jonathan, who spoke during a congratulatory visit to Governor Diri in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, on Friday, said there is no denying the fact that insecurity and criminality would have increased and taken a turn for the worse if Diri did not make it.
According to the former President; “We don’t want to go into unnecessary crisis in the state. Results have been declared and we believe the election was conducted successfully. We believe the Governor won the election and we plead that people should accept it and work with him for the overall benefits of all Bayelsans Let all of us support him so that the state will move ahead.”
Further amplifying the need to make Bayelsa great and competitive among the comity of States, the man popularly called GEJ, said; “There should be nothing that will push the state backward. We should think about the development of the state starting from the issue of peace and security in the state which within this last period, three years plus, there are significant improvements in terms of cultism and kidnapping and so on and so forth.
“I was saying before this election that if Diri loses this election, I would have relocated my mother to Abuja.”
Also recounting how his cousin was kidnapped and killed, the former President expressed confidence that Diri’s return to the Bayelsa State Government House, would effectively address the security challenges and make the state safe and secure for all residents as well as visitors.
He said; “My cousin was kidnapped two times on one of those occasions, one of my cousins, Solo, was killed because they threw him into the river and he didn’t know how to swim.”
“So, we’ve passed through hell in this s,, and we’ve seen a little light at the end of the tunnel.
“So, people should calm down, and allow Diri to focus on governance so that he will be able to propel this state forward so that we will benefit as citizens of the state.”
Sylva, who was the immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from 2019 to 2023 under President Muhammad Buhari, had previously served as Governor of Bayelsa State from 2007 to 2012 when he was sacked by the Supreme Court.
He succeeded Jonathan as the Bayelsa governor in 2007 when the former President was elected Vice-President with late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
