The cold war between Bayelsa State
governor, Hon Seriake Dickson and the
family of President Goodluck Jonathan
appears to have deepened as the battle for
tickets of the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) in the state takes a new twist.
Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of
Assembly, who is also a close ally of the
governor, Hon Benson Konbowei has
cautioned the president against
interfering in the choice of senatorial
candidates for the party in the state.
“Mr President is from the east senatorial
district and we are talking about the
central senatorial district. We are talking
about a senator representing central
senatorial district, so the president should
have nothing to do with the issue. As far
as the decision is concerned, it should
come from us,” the speaker told
LEADERSHIP in an interview.
Hon Konbowei’s position comes on the
heels of reports that President Jonathan,
as part of the deal reached with the
leadership of the senate, has insisted on
the return of Senator Emmanuel Paulker
(Bayelsa central) in 2015.
The president/senators’ deal was to the
effect that two senators per state would be
given automatic tickets. Senators Paulker
and Heineken Lokpobiri are touted to be
favoured by the agreement as it affects
Bayelsa.
This, however, does not go down well
with Governor Dickson, who is insisting
on the replacement of all the three
senators, the five House of
Representatives members as well as 22 out
of the 26 member state assembly.
Hon Konbowei said in the interview: “We
only gave him (Senator Paulker) a second
chance and when the second chance was
given to him he acted the same way, so
why should we give him a third chance?
“The president doesn’t have to go to our
constituencies, so we take all his
messages back to the people. We take all
the messages of Paulker to the people.”
Source: Leadership
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