Guber Election: PDP, Diri in for Rude Shock in Bayelsa, Says Nabena

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa state, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, has said that the   Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Duoye Diri are in for a rude shock.

The National Chairman of the ruling party, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had on Friday inaugurated the national campaign team with a task to mobilise, study all the guidelines and deliver the party’s candidate, Timipre Sylva.

The APC chieftain noted that if Duoye’s abysmal performance in the state was anything to go by, the outcome of the forthcoming election is already known to all.

Nabena, while addressing a press conference on Sunday in Abuja, said as far as he was concerned,  the people of Bayelsa have seen that the Diri has done nothing because he was never prepared.

On the recent mass defection to APC and the denial by the state government, the party chieftain said the governor and his party were afraid of what would become of their fate soon, adding that already there is confusion in the PDP’s camp.

His words: “Even before now, they didn’t believe we were going to move to this extent. But they became afraid when they observed that we have started taking their key people.

“As I talk to you, in the PDP camp, there is confusion in every local government in the state. We don’t want to behave like them because their own PDP people have said they can’t. That is why we brought these people out there to the National television for people to see. Defecting is not the problem.

“We have seen a lot of people defect here and there. But at the end of the day, there is no result. But this time around,  we have a different approach; that is our own secret.”

When asked about the chances of the party in the coming election, Nabena noted:”We are going to win.”

Nabena also challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to quickly make the electoral guidelines it plans to use for the by-election known to all in order to avoid confusion.

He was of the opinion that INEC has an obligation to tell the voters whether it will use Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and whether it will  transmit election results from the polling unit and other guidelines.

Nabena added: “First and foremost, the security system should be focused in Bayelsa State. And INEC should come out plain this time around. Is it BVAS or we just do whatever we want to do while INEC takes it from there. There is no clear direction. So you can do whatsoever you want to do then INEC can come back and do what they like. They are telling us INEC said they don’t have power to transmit.

“INEC must have a clear direction so that voters will know this is the system. So that everybody can protect his or her votes. Not that somebody that will go to Government House and write these things for INEC.

“So tell us, are you going to transmit the result from polling units? Or what are you going do? Are you going to use BVAS? Tell us from day one. Let there be a guideline and an understanding that this is it. Not the one court will say INEC can come up with anything they want. Politics is the biggest business in the world.”