Bayelsa Guber: Politicians Warned against Unguarded Utterances

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Politicians in Bayelsa State have been warned against making utterances capable of derailing the peace in Bayelsa State, ahead of the November 11, governorship election.

The charge by a concerned group, the Network of Bayelsa Professionals (NBP), forms part of efforts to discourage politicians, particularly the gubernatorial candidates, from the path of rancour and bitterness in their campaigns.

Co-ordinator of the group, Mr Agbada S. Agbada, in a statement made available to journalists, noted that while individuals reserve the right to aspire to any elective office, such aspirations must be pursued with decency and moderation to preserve the relative peace the state has experienced in the past few years.

The group commended Governor Douye Diri for demonstrating exemplary leadership by his consistent accommodation of dissent, criticisms, tolerance for the opposition in the state as well as commitment to peace.

According to the group, Diri’s disposition of political maturity is a sharp departure from the norm and has significantly reduced political tension in the state.

“As we draw closer to the November 2023 gubernatorial elections in the state, it has become imperative for us to sound a note of caution to politicians to avoid unguarded utterances and conduct that will heat up the polity and jeopardise the relative peace the state has enjoyed for the past few years.

“As Bayelsans who are seeking to lead the state, we expect that the collective interest of Bayelsans will be the overriding consideration. Therefore, all political actors have a duty to preserve the relative peace the present administration has laboured to achieve”, he said.

The coordinator, however, lamented that recent utterances of some aspirants reflect a fixation on the abhorrent politics of mudslinging and desperation, adding that such utterances could easily heat up the polity and threaten the relative peace in the State. 

Meanwhile, the group has appealed  to media organisations not to allow their platforms to be used by politicians to promote hate, campaign of calumny and other inciting and provocative remarks.

“Bayelsa is our only home and we have a collective responsibility to protect it from politicians who place their ambitions above the interest of the state, Agbada”