Battle Lines Are Drawn In Bayelsa Ahead 2012

Leadership

8 August 2011

Battle Lines Are Drawn In Bayelsa Ahead 2012

When in October last year, the Bayelsa Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva made incursions into the Council of the Labour Party (LP) Governorship candidate, Mr. Timi Alaibe, and was honored with a chieftaincy title known as “Opu Abadi” (Big Ocean) by King Agara Onya Mozi, many never foresaw that the courtship would turn the sleepy council into the home of tensed political action.

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The sleepy town of Kolokuma/Opokuma, since the honour bestowed on the Governor and the elevation of the member representing the area in the House of Assembly, Fini Angaye to the Position of Deputy Speaker, all seems to have gone hay-wire. Instead of the existing peace, the first political crisis noticed was the forceful attack on the country home of Timi Alaibe before he declared for the Governorship context and the killing of six supporters of the Labour Party during the reception for Timi Alaibe in his hometown.

Although Governor Timipre Sylva, and his Party, distanced themselves from the heinous acts, the victories of the PDP in the local Government council and the fortunate victory of the Labour Party in one constituency, the PDP and the Governor announced their arrival in a loud voice.

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In his reference to the political hold of Mr. Timi Alaibe in the council area and the battle by the Governor to break it, the deputy speaker, Fini Angaye, said, “the political power was no longer the exclusive preserve of so-called godfathers; rather, power now rests with the voters. No more will an individual or group of persons determine the destiny of the majority in the area, saying that his reelection into the State House of Assembly for a second legislative term was the true reflection of the wishes of the people of the constituency.”