Bayelsa’s Alleged Arms Build-up

One of the ironies of Nigeria’s political leadership is that often times, issues that ordinarily should unite them, always needlessly cause disharmony between them. The recent recrimination amongst the political actors in Bayelsa State over allegation of stock-piling of arms, ahead of the 2019 general election is a sore point in the lead-up to next year’s election.

On the one hand, the PDP Chairman in the state, Mr. Cleopas Moses, accused a former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva and the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, of stock-piling arms, which he claimed they planned to use to unleash mayhem. He also urged security agencies to investigate the APC over the allegations.

On its part, the APC, in a statement by its state Publicity Secretary, Doifie Buokoribo, described the allegation as one of the diversionary tactics being used to prevent Bayelsans from discovering the truth about planned violence by the PDP. Whatever the truth is, the parties would fare better uniting to combat such a situation that constitutes huge menace to all and not drawn apart on that score, because the forces threatening to tear them down are more than those that currently bring them together.