In an interview with
Vanguard,
former Bayelsa state governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, said former
President Olusegun Obasanjo is a cunning man and that former Lagos state
governor, Bola Tinubu was very clever not to have fallen for Obasanjo's
actions. Alamieyeseigha said this while responding to a question on
whether the recent defections of PDP members to APC will affect the
party in the state's governorship election which will hold on December
5th.
"Again, I think our people need to be educated, I can tell you that I
was one of them in 2003 that formed Action Congress. At that time, it
was becoming clear that President Olusegun Obasanjo, was going to chase
most of us out of PDP, so we came together. About 18 of us. We said let
us register a party and keep it in case President Obasanjo pushed us out
of the party. We can have a platform to actualize our dream.
Also at that time, Obasanjo had cajoled the Southwest
governors out of their seats. He deceived them. Bola Tinubu was very
clever, he foresaw what Obasanjo was trying to do, so he was the only
one that survived because the agreement was that all the Southwest
governors should all support him so that he will return them as
governors for second term. Obasanjo’s election came first and he
deceived them. Obasanjo himself, very cunning, formed Accord Party. When
you hear of Accord, it’s Obasanjo’s party"he said
He went further to say that the APC has no power in Bayelsa state and will never be recognized
"This state is a PDP state, we the elders will not allow foreign
bedfellows take over this state. An Ijaw man has never been conquered,
we would not allow it to happen. You can call it any name. Whether they
come from the Southwest, whether they come from the North to conquer us.
If anybody tells you as an Ijaw man that these people love you, it’s a
lie. I know them and they know me too. The South-west and the North if
they come together they will continue to produce the president of this
country for life. We have no hope, so we must consolidate on what we
have here. We cannot afford to fall into that trap. We will perpetually
be slaves to the bigger tribes. We should protect what belongs to us, we
shall not allow our young men to be brainwashed. This country must be
restructured. We must practice true federalism, otherwise these people
will continue to exploit us. We had a President from here. They just
decided to take it back, and they took it. Is that the system the young
people want to run into? What will even the Federal Government do to you
if you decide to stay where you are. You are receiving allocation from
the federation account, the federal government is equally receiving its
share, what do you expect from them? Is it not better to utilize what
you have received and be able to be ingenious enough to attract
investors to develop your local economy, than depending on the federal
government? The whole thing is deceptive. What they did not get from the
13% derivation, they are getting through the back door through the
local government system? There is no federation in the world where local
government is a federating unit. Don’t be afraid, this youth population
you are talking about. They have leaders that control them. It is like
my humble self, going to Amassoma and I say this is the direction we are
going, which of my children will stand up and say no? They will follow
my direction."he said
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