Bayelsa Governorship Primary Will Be Peaceful, Transparent - PDP Youth Vanguard

South-South Youths Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has reacted to the allegation that some Bayelsa State governorship aspirants want to cause mayhem in the forthcoming primary.

The group, under the aegis of South South PDP Youth Vanguard, pointed out that the primary will be peaceful, but Governor Seriake Dickson has to allow for a level playing field.

The South South PDP Youths said that their attention was drawn to a statement credited to an unknown disgruntled group led by one Chief Jasper Timiebi, which specifically accused a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Chief Ndutimi Alaibe, and Dr. Chris Osaisai, among others, of plotting to cause mayhem in the state ahead of the party’s primary on September 3.

Part of the statement reads: "In the statement, the unknown group had claimed that Alaibe and others had devised a plot to cause premeditated violence and instability in the state with the intent to arm-twist the national leadership of the PDP to move the primary to Abuja or the neighbouring Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The PDP youths, in a statement by its Chairman, James Efe Akpofure said "ordinarily we would not have reacted to the statement, but, because we want to set the record straight, we have to reply those, who are bent on manipulating the forthcoming Bayelsa State governorship primary.

"Recall that on Wednesday we cautioned the State Governor, Seriake Dickson and the State Chairman, Mr Cleopas Moses, not to destabilise the party."

"Our warning came on the heel of a report  that the State Chairman, Mr. Moses had openly endorsed the candidate preferred by the state Governor, Mr Dickson, a development that is generating anger among the PDP governorship aspirants in the state.

"We had also warned against the recent utterances of the State Chairman and the trending video of Governor Dickson, that the governor should not go the way of the former governors of Ogun and Imo States, who lost the last governorship elections because they wanted to foist their candidates on the people.

"We can see the hands of mischief makers in the allegation that Alaibe and others are trying to cause mayhem in the forthcoming primary, in a bid to move the primary to Abuja or the neighbouring Port Harcourt, Rivers State."

"We have decided to respond to this alleged plot because we are seeing the 'hands of Jacob and the voice of Abel,' in the whole thing, all in the name to discredit some aspirants ahead of the primary to pave way for a preferred aspirant."

"We are emphasising again that it is not fair for the governor and the state chairman to give people hope, only for them to dash it when it matters most. If they know that they have anointed a candidate, why did they allow other aspirants to pick forms that cost about N21 million?"

The South South PDP youths warned the group going about discrediting aspirants and innocent Nigerians to desist from the act capable of destroying PDP in Bayelsa State.

They emphasised that the aspirants should be allowed to go into the field and fight it out, as that is when the best of them will emerged.