… challenges Ogoriba’s claims, says 2023 voting figures demand political sobriety
. Warns dismissing PDP, Rainbow Coalition dangerous misreading of realities on ground
From Seyi Tayese, Yenagoa
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayelsa State, High Chief (Hon.) Alabh George Turnah,has firmly challenged the claim by the State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Warman Weri Ogoriba, that the APC possesses sufficient structures, organisation and grassroots support to deliver President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Bayelsa State in 2027 without the contribution of the Rainbow Coalition.
Turnah described the APC chairman’s dismissal of the Rainbow Coalition as a political assertion that must be measured against the actual voting record of Bayelsans and the present political realities in the state, rather than treated as an established electoral fact.
In a statement issued and signed by Kelvin Loveday-Egbo
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Communication to the Chairman,
Peoples Democratic Party, Bayelsa State said, “the reality is that the Bayelsa APC, under Governor Douye Diri’s leadership, cannot afford to dismiss the significance of the Rainbow Coalition or the political value of the PDP without confronting the facts on ground”.
According to the statement, the attempt to project the APC as capable of delivering Bayelsa to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu without the contribution of the political forces assembled under the Rainbow Coalition is, at best, an overstatement of its present political reach.
“The 2027 contest will not be won by press statements, boasts about structures or claims of grassroots strength; it will be determined by the ability to build broad-based political support across communities, wards, local government areas and the wider electorate.
“According to the 2023 presidential election figures for Bayelsa State, the PDP recorded 65,145 votes, the Labour Party (LP) recorded 45,645 votes, while the APC recorded 40,417 votes across the eight Local Government Areas of the state. The figures are instructive. Put together, the PDP and LP accounted for 110,790 votes, compared with the APC’s 40,417 votes.
“Those numbers are not propaganda. They are figures from the last presidential election. Therefore, when the APC says it has everything required to determine the presidential outcome in Bayelsa State, we should ask a simple question: what does the voting record actually tell us?
“It is particularly instructive that Mr. Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, almost won Bayelsa State even though the Labour Party had no clear political structure or major political players in the state. That near-victory was achieved largely on the strength of popular appeal and the residual goodwill of progressive-minded voters.
” The circumstances today, as we approach the 2027 presidential election, are fundamentally different. Mr. Peter Obi is now the Presidential Candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), a party founded by Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, a former Governor of Bayelsa State and a major political figure and heavyweight in the politics of the State.
“With this development, Peter Obi stands a better chance than he had in 2023 to easily win Bayelsa State even with large margins if the PDP and the structures of the Rainbow Coalition are not fully mobilised to backup the APC in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is the reality on ground, not the political grandstanding coming from the Diri-led APC in the State.
“It should also be noted that the defection of Governor Douye Diri into the APC and his successful hijack and takeover of the APC structure has left thousands of legacy APC members in the State disgruntled. This situation has been made worse by the defection from the APC of a former Governor of the State, Chief Timipre Sylva, who was a founding member and leader of the APC in Bayelsa State.
“The fact on ground is therefore obvious: the current APC in Bayelsa State under Governor Diri cannot deliver the State to President Tinubu except and unless the PDP and the Rainbow Coalition mobilise their structures in the State to support the APC and back the re-election of President Tinubu.
“This is why the support of the PDP and the Rainbow Coalition is not a peripheral matter; it is central and indispensable if President Tinubu is to win Bayelsa State.
“It is therefore political immaturity for Governor Diri and the Bayelsa APC to antagonise or attempt to dismiss the PDP and the Rainbow Coalition structures in the State. Perhaps they are not sincere about their acclaimed support for the re-election of President Tinubu.
“The Rainbow Coalition birthed by the FCT Minister and National Leader of the PDP, His Excellency Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON, brings together political interests and networks that cannot simply be wished away, while the PDP remains a major political platform with a deep-rooted presence in Bayelsa State. Therefore, rather than dismissing the Rainbow Coalition, the Bayelsa APC should recognise that its relevance and the support of the PDP could be central to any serious effort to secure a broad political coalition for Tinubu in the State.
“This is why it is premature and politically unrealistic for the Progressive Governors Forum, and now, the Bayelsa APC to dismiss the relevance of the Rainbow Coalition or the contribution of the PDP to any proposed presidential support arrangement in for President Tinubu.”
The PDP chairman noted that the central issue surrounding the Rainbow Coalition is not whether the APC should abandon its own structures, but whether political actors who support President Tinubu should be allowed to mobilise additional support across party lines.
Turnah further pointed to the 2023 election as evidence that Presidential and Legislative voting patterns do not necessarily move in identical directions. He consequently urged the APC leadership in Bayelsa to approach the 2027 Presidential contest with political realism rather than dismissing other political platforms.
“If the APC in Bayelsa believes its structures are strong enough, that is a matter for the electorate to determine. But it is not reasonable to dismiss a platform whose stated objective is to mobilise additional presidential support and then simultaneously claim that every vote required for the President is already guaranteed. The more support a presidential candidate receives, the better the arithmetic. That is basic political mathematics.
“The PDP in Bayelsa will continue to build its structures, engage its members and participate in elections in accordance with the decisions of the party. Nobody should mistake our political independence for an inability to participate in broader political conversations.
“The 2027 election is still ahead. The political debate at this time should therefore focus on issues that matter to Bayelsans, including development, infrastructure, employment, economic opportunity, poverty eradication, security, education, healthcare and the quality of leadership available to the people, all of which verifiable indices shows the Diri led APC Prosperity Administration has failed woefully and now lacks the goodwill and capacity to deliver the State to President Tinubu should the PDP and the Rainbow Coalition withhold its support and backing.
“The PDP will continue to put the interests of Bayelsans at the centre of its political engagement. At the end of the day, it is the people who will decide the outcome of the elections.”
