Court Stops Pro-Wike Rally in Bayelsa

·No plan to hold rally in support of FCT minister, Turnah declares

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa 

The High Court of Bayelsa State sitting in Yenagoa, has issued an order restraining associates of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, from holding a mega rally in the state pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.

The order which obtained on Thursday was to stop the proposed rally by George Turnah and key Wike loyalists scheduled for Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, on April 12, 2025.

Reacting to this development, the lead convener of the NEW Associates Bayelsa State chapter, Turnah, organisers of the rally, said his group had no plans to hold a rally for the FCT Minister, Wike, in the Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital as was alleged by the state government.

Instead he said what the group was planning was a solidarity rally in appreciation of President Bola Tinubu for appointing persons from Bayelsa State into positions of authority and trust in his administration.

Hon. Justice I.A. Uzakah of High Court of Bayelsa State granted the Motion Ex-Parte in Suit No.BYHC/YHC/CV/133/2025 filed by the state’s Attorney General, Mr. Biriyai Dambo, SAN.

Listed as first and second defendants/respondents in the suit are the lead convener of the NEW Associates, organisers of the rally, Mr. George Turnah, and the FCT Minister, Wike.

The other defendants are the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Police Command.

The enrolled court order states that: “An order of the interim injunction is hereby made or granted restraining the 1st and 2nd defendants, whether by themselves, their agents, associates, privies, representatives (or any person whatsoever acting at their behest), from conducting, convening, coordinating, engaging in, organising, participating in, holding, hosting, or facilitating any political assembly, rally meeting, or gathering within Bayelsa State, for the purpose of solidarity, hosting, and celebrating the 2nd defendant in Bayelsa State, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction.”

The matter was adjourned to April 11, 2025 for hearing.

Meanwhile, while addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Turnah denied what he described as false allegation that NEW Associates Bayelsa State chapter was colluding with Wike, Minister of the FCT, to instigate insecurity in Bayelsa State in a bid to destabilise the state and subsequently trigger a state of emergency.

Turnah, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Bayelsa State, Mr.George Turnah, described the allegation as false and mischievous, saying it was regrettable to hear such allegation from someone occupying the esteemed office of a state governor.

Turnah, who insisted that the group will go ahead with the rally on April 12, denied the involvement of Wike in the planned rally, insisting that the minister was yet to be notified of the rally in Bayelsa State.

The group’s leader who is the South-south Zonal Secretary of the faction of the PDP loyal to Wike, said at no time did, “the NEW Associates Bayelsa State chapter, or any associated entity announce plans to host Minister Wike in Bayelsa State or any other location on the dates mentioned or any other time.

“Senator Douye Diri, the Governor of Bayelsa State, in these statements, he accused me of colluding with Wike, Minister of the FCT and former Governor of Rivers State, to instigate insecurity in Bayelsa State in a bid to destabilise the state.

“In two separate broadcasts, while addressing the State Security Council and the Elders’ Council, the governor claimed he encountered a Facebook report featuring my phone number that suggested I would host Minister Wike for a rally organised by the NEW Associates in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. 

“These claims, which were anchored on a Facebook report that Governor Diri did not bother to verify first, are entirely false and represent the highest form of rumour-mongering,” he said. 

Turnah, said his problem with Governor Diri stems from his (Turnah’s) support for Southern presidency ticket and the fact he is mobilising against any plot to drag PDP into a coalition to deny the Southern Nigeria opportunity to serve out it’s eight-year presidency tenure.

“It is particularly regrettable to hear this from someone occupying the esteemed office of a state governor.

“For clarification, at no time has our group, the NEW Associates Bayelsa State Chapter, or any associated entity announced plans to host Minister Wike in Bayelsa State or any other location on the dates mentioned or any other time,” he further said.

“I stand to be corrected; for any Minister of the Federal Republic to visit a state within the Federation, there must be some form of government to government communication as well as full disclosure of such planned visits, at least to relevant security formations in the state indeed for such visit.

“It is, therefore, surprising and shocking that His Excellency Governor Diri could rely on outright falsehood and an unverified Facebook post to set me up against the people of Bayelsa State and the Ijaw nation for hate and kill.

“The level of incitement against my person by Governor Diri can be likened to, in the words of Governor Fubara, when a man cocks a gun, and maybe because the gun is in safety and the bullets didn’t come out, the man has already killed you.

“Let it be known by all the people of Bayelsa State, the Ijaw Nation, and Nigeria that on the 28th of March 2025, His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, Governor of my state, pulled a dangerous trigger against me but, to the glory of God, I am still alive today to tell the story as I am about to do now, perhaps because, the gun was in safety,” he stated.

Turnah also spoke of the crisis in the PDP, accusing Diri of nurturing an ambition to contest for Vice Presidential under a Northern presidential candidate in 2027 general election.

He also accused Diri of being behind the plot to foist Chief Ude Okoye as PDP National Secretary with sole intent to form a coalition with other parties to face Tinubu in 2027.