By SAMUEL OYADONGHA, Yenagoa
All is now set for the Bayelsa governorship election slated for next Saturday, February 11, 2012 as the various opposition political parties have perfected strategies to scuttle the ambition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to retain power.

From all indications, however, the ruling party is not prepared to relinquish power having been in control since 1999.

Thirty six political parties were cleared by the nation’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to slug it out for the coveted Creek Haven. But as at press time, only 35 willd be going into the poll except the Mega Progressive Peoples Party MPPP substitute its governorship candidate, Ogbotobe Oduduogwu who reportedly passed on last month after a brief illness.

Although, all may not be well with the ruling PDP in the state given the way it shoved aside its then sitting governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, from contesting the November 19, 2011 primaries which produced Seriake Dickson as its governorship candidate, it remains the party to beat next Saturday as Bayelsans file out to elect the fourth civilian governor of the state.

INEC’s recent declaration that only the candidates who emerged after the Court of Appeal judgment of April 15, 2011 would be recognised as candidates in the elections has not only sealed the hope of the former Governor from contesting the governorship race but taken the burden off the troubled PDP.

CAP guber candidate, Dr. Imoro Kubor; ACN candidate, Barrister Kemela Okara and PDP guber candidate, Seriake Dickson

The seeming cleavage within its rank notwithstanding it remains PDP is the party to beat in the next Saturday election in the state given its overwhelming influence and power of incumbency as the ruling party with the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Nestor Binabo as Acting Governor.

The remnants of the Sylva supporters are already realigning and drifting back to the camp of Seriake Dickson, the PDP governorship candidate for the February 11 poll to ensure the party remains the occupant of Creek Haven.

With the opposition parties now canvassing for the vote of the electorate in the nooks and crannies of the state ahead of the weekend poll, the question on the lips of many is can the PDP repeat the 1999, 2003 and 2007 performances, given its intractable crisis?

But Bayelsans may once again, in deference to President Goodluck Jonathan, rally support for the PDP. It was this sort of pronouncement by the President that crippled the then Labour Party’s ambition in the April 2011 polls in the state. The president had said, “I am a PDP member and I will not support a candidate that is not in PDP. Bayelsa is a PDP state and if opposition parties get votes in the state, people will not believe me.”

Losing the state to the opposition parties will say much about the credibility of the president in his home state which the the Acting Governor cannot allow in his brief stay in office.

Bayelsa is made up of eight local governments with Yenagoa having the highest number of registered voters. Interestingly, the contestants for various elective positions are spread across all the local governments.

The PDP is head and shoulders above the other parties in the predominantly riverine state in terms of organizational structure and financial muscle to prosecute a rewarding campaign.

Among the parties adjudged as prepared to dislodge the ruling PDP from Creek Haven are the Change Advocacy Party (CAP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Imoro Kubo, a retired permanent secretary is the hope of CAP in the next week governorship election. An indigene of Lobia in Southern Ijaw, one of the biggest local government areas in the state, his choice of Rev Obegha Oworibo, the immediate past Head of Service in the state as his running mate has been hailed as a political masterstroke to woo the state civil servants given his robust relationship with the workers during his meritorious career in the civil service.

Kubor had told a gathering of Bayelsans at a rally,  that “The two of us are technocrats from the public service. We shall be bringing our wealth of experience into politics to ensure the transformation of Bayelsa State. We have been tested in a cultured civil service with a lot of discipline.”

Though blessed with two tested technocrats, the party’s undoing is finance. It could not be compared to the PDP which manages the state resources and also parades some of the money bags in the state who had benefited at one time or the other from the ruling party in form of contract executions. They also hold juicy positions in government.

Kubor has also come under criticisms for jumping from one party to another. But he has defended himself, saying that he abandoned ACN and PDP for strategic reasons. “The party does not bring development to a state, but the individual elected as governor. That is what the PDP is lacking that the CAP has. In Akwa Ibom, it is not PDP, but Akpabio that is working.

“What we are telling the people is to look at the individual candidate and forget the party. Since 1999, the PDP has claimed to be ruling, but they have negative effects on the governance of the state. It is our time to take Bayelsa to a new level.”

CPC: The governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) is Mr. Famous Daunemighan; a former Special Adviser on Mobilisation in the state enjoys the support of the youth having served as former National Deputy President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide.

Daunemighan, who hails from the Ekeremor, West Senatorial District, picked Alaowei Opukeme, a politician from Yenagoa Council as his running mate.

The CPC candidate often described as “man of the people” is known to have assisted several youths and elders in the state right from his day as IYC chieftain.

His administration, if elected, he said would focus on job creation to cater for the army of unemployed youths in the state and massive infrastructural development.

ACN: The Action Congress of Nigeria is also seen as one of the few serious parties on ground in the state. The party, like the PDP, CAP and CPC has been going round the nooks and crannies of the state canvassing the votes of the people.  The party governorship candidate, Barrister Kemela Okara, an indigene of Boumadi in Gbarain/Ekpetiama clan in Yenagoa LGA is also focusing his campaign on creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths and qualitative education for the youths.

He tapped into Ogbia council area hometown of President Goodluck Jonathan, known for its block vote to choose to his running mate in the person of Chris Alagoa. “We have seen the benefits of progressive policies and leadership. In other states such as Edo, Osun, Lagos and Ekiti, we have seen progressive leadership. We have seen the doggedness to stand by the ideals of democracy and to fight for what is right. And you know these ideals should be commended. Any party that brings about economic progress and stands doggedly by the principles of democracy is the party that would inspire people like me. That party is the ACN.

“The major problem in our state is the lack of basic amenities. It is unfair to anyone in the state to live in an environment where you don’t have access to clean water, where infant mortality is high. Our population is 1.7 million and the resources that come to our state are among the highest that go to any state in the country by virtue of the fact that we are an oil-producing state.

However, it is sad that poverty is still everywhere. Our people need purposeful leadership that puts the people first and considers the plight of the people,” said Okara, a Lagos-based lawyer.