Timi Alaibe, former Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and one of the 21 aspirants seeking nomination for election as Governor of Bayelsa State, on Friday,  submitted his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms at Wadata House, the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja.

Timi Alaibe.

Aggrieved PDP presidential aspirant threatens legal action against Atiku’s candidacy(Opens in a new browser tab)

Accompanied by top ranking politicians from the state, Alaibe told the leadership of the party that despite the unprecedented number of aspirants from the state, he is seeking the governorship with incomparable public and private sector credentials in terms of management of both human and financial resources.

He said every aspirant that has picked the nomination form is a credible leader in his or her own right and that the more the number of people involved in the race, the difficult it would be for the delegates to make any mistake in picking the right person for the office.

He told the party leaders, “I come with strong leadership skills. I come with private and public sectors experience. I have the political capital. I have the social network that would be exploited for the good of Bayelsa people. I have strong managerial character and ideas needed to continue from where Governor Dickson will stop. I have quality business strategies to provide jobs for the youth. I have the required experience in conflict resolution. These are indisputable facts”

The former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) disclosed that having managed nine states with 145 local government areas while serving at the NDDC, Bayelsa, with only eight local government areas, will benefit from that experience.

Answering questions from journalists later, he explained that Governor Henry Seriake Dickson has invested a lot in the development of the state such that the only way forward is to ensure that governance, after his exit, is not left in the hands of those who will neither keep pace with his vision nor take the state to a higher level.

He dismissed rumours that the Governor has already anointed a successor among his aides which explains why many of them were picking the nomination form. “It is a rumour to assume that Governor Dickson has endorsed anybody. The governor has never said so. His aides have equal rights as others to seek nomination. If the governor is going to endorse anybody, it would be me.”

Vanguard