Yekini Nabena, the secretary of the media and publicity committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Gubernatorial Campaign Council for the state, has urged the public to ignore “sponsored media reports” in some quarters that claim Heineken Lokpobiri, the minister of state for petroleum, and David Lyon, a candidate for governor in 2019, are working for Governor Douye Diri ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa.
Former APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary Nabena claimed that any claims of a split within the APC’s Bayelsa faction are untrue.
In response to a media story on Monday that cited sources in various circles, Nabena referred to the claim as misinformation produced by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) camp in an effort to stoke unrest within the winning APC team.
Governor Douye Diri, who is running for reelection on the PDP platform, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), and David Lyon, a candidate for governor in 2019, were reportedly planning an unholy alliance.
According to media reports that cited sources, the governor promised Lokpobiri and Lyon some measures of power over decision-making in addition to granting them each 50 Senior Special Assistants (SSA) positions.
Nabena, however, refuted the accusations in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja and produced a recent photo showing Lokpobiri and Lyon renewing their commitment before APC National Chairman Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to support Timipre Sylva and the party in Bayelsa.
The PDP camp in Bayelsa is using propaganda techniques to win the governorship race, but according to Nabena, these strategies won’t be effective because the public has already decided to oust the PDP government for underdeveloping the state.
Prior to the November 11 governorship election in the State, “our attention has been drawn to a sponsored propaganda in some quarters suggesting cracks in the solid camp of the Bayelsa APC,” the statement read.
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We won’t get sidetracked because we know how desperate the current governor, Douye Diri, has become. As a result, he’s using all kinds of tricks, like propaganda and lies to throw people off, but sadly for the PDP, it’s too late because Bayelsans have already decided to fire the under-developer of an oil-rich state.
“For the benefit of doubt, the attached pictures will inform sceptics that the 2019 governorship candidate, David Lyon, and the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, most recently met strategically with our candidate in front of our National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, where everyone recommitted themselves and massive mobilisation has since started.
But given that their time in the Bayelsa state government House is running out, we feel sorry for the impatient Governor Diri and his group for acting too late.
We implore everyone of our party’s members, supporters, and Byelsans in general to maintain their composure, expect a landslide victory, and reject rumours that there may be divisions within our group, Nabena stated.
