Bayelsa Gov, Diri, warns PDP stakeholders ahead of election

Duoye Diri, the governor of Bayelsa State and the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate for governor, has urged his party’s leaders and members not to disregard the dangers posed by the opposition, notably the All Progressives Congress, before the November 11 governorship election.

The PDP’s national campaign committee for the governorship election held its first meeting on Thursday at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, where the governor made this statement, on Thursday.

Diri argued that despite the beneficial effects of his administration’s four-year tenure on the populace, it would be incorrect for PDP supporters to believe that the party had the election already in the bag.

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He said, “One thing I would like to point out is that the election we are going into is an election, like everyone has said, we believe that we have won. But there is a popular saying in my place that when a blind man tells you that he is going to stone you, it means that he is standing on top of a stone. So let us not take our opponents, especially the APC, for granted. In Bayelsa, I would like to let you know that this election is across party lines. So, we are not going there to deride APC.

“There are so many APC members who have come out openly to say ‘Yes in Abuja we are APC, but in Bayelsa we are PDP.’ I mean leaders of APC. So, when we go for this campaign, we should be seen to be accepting them.”

On the popularity of the PDP in the state compared with the opposition, Governor Diri said his party holds the ace, stressing however that there should be no room for complacency.

“On the ground, as everyone has attested to, it is like 80-20 per cent in this election, but we will not take it for granted because somebody is boasting that whether the people like it or not, he is going to win. That means he is standing on a stone, and we must remove that stone from under him. That is all that the PDP needs to do,” he added.

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