The biggest highlight of the governorship election in Bayelsa state, apart from the sad spectacle of thugs roaming in broad daylight and carting away ballot boxes, is the fact that the opposition All Progressives Congress won in the polling booth and Local Government Area of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
This surprise, heightened by the known allegiance of Goodluck Jonathan to the PDP considering that his rise in politics was made possible by powerbrokers in the party that claimed Nigeria’s Presidency for 16 straight years, is completed by the defeat of the PDP and the failure of incumbent Seriake Dickson to name a successor.
For one, since the return to democracy in 1999, Bayelsa state has been governed by the PDP and the APC has struggled badly to gain a foothold in the south-south region of the country, with Edo State being the only state it governs.
The surprising u-turn and the obvious refusal by Goodluck Jonathan to back his party’s candidate has raised eyebrows across the country and given life to rumors that former President whose second-term ambition was dashed by the formation and ruthless campaigning of the APC could be planning a high-profile cross-carpeting to the party he once virulently repudiated.
Goodluck Jonathan’s annoyance
While the story of the former President planning an exit from the party that offered him the highest office in the land could be farfetched, it is common knowledge amongst political actors in Bayelsa state that he had for long withdrawn support from Seriake Dickson, the governor of Bayela State who, like other governors in the country, tried to manipulate party machinery and install a preferred successor in violation of previous agreements.
Timi Alaibe, former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission and a wealthy businessman had reportedly secured the backing of Goodluck Jonathan and other powerbrokers in the Bayelsa State chapter of the PDP as the successor to Governor Seriake Dickson.
Crucially, Alaibe, with his eyes fixed firmly on the governorship seat, had spent the last few years investing in relationships and political ventures for the singular purpose of making his candidacy for the election a foregone conclusion. However, Seriake Dickson had other ideas. The governor, at different points, reportedly challenged the influence of former President Goodluck Jonathan and against advice from different quarters, threw his weight behind Senator Duoye Diri who won the primaries.
This didn’t go down well with Goodluck Jonathan and his followers – and there are millions of them. For though he failed to persuade the majority of Nigerians to hand him another chance at the Presidency, he remained immensely popular in the Southern region, particularly his home state.
Seriake Dickson’s other sins
In addition to upsetting the leaders of his party with his stubborn insistence on naming a successor even though he was helped to power by their networking and deft political moves, Seriake Dickson is not popular with the people of Bayelsa State.
Months of unpaid salaries and perceived arrogance, particularly in media address, had created a disaffection between the governor and millions of Bayelsa citizens who began to question their unrewarded loyalty to the PDP in the state.
It also didn’t help matters that NGOs like Budgit increased awareness on the fat allocations awarded to oil-rich states like Bayelsa and why it is unconscionable that such state still struggled to pay salaries and build schools, amongst other developmental needs.
Essentially, Seriake Dickson, through his incompetence and poor management, had spilled the fuel and the aggrieved leaders of his party lit the fuse.
Revolt of the PDP
To cut Seriake Dickson to size and to, in the short term, regain the political structure of the state which was handed to disliked persons by the governor, members of the PDP, inspired by Goodluck Jonathan’s veiled backing of the APC’s candidate, David Lyon, revolted against the party.
The signs were obvious from the start. Months before the election, several aides and appointees of Seriake Dickson resigned from his government in protest and full acknowledgment of the defeat to come. These aides, acting under clear instructions, led the Calvary for the APC and their combination proved too strong for Governor Dickson whose ambition finally nailed him to the cross.
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