Former President Goodluck Jonathan says he would have relocated his mother to Abuja if Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri had lost his reelection bid to the All Progressives Congress.
Jonathan expressed confidence that Diri’s victory will make the state safer with the governor’s determination to tackle insecurity.
He spoke when he visited the governor in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
His words: “We don’t want to go into an unnecessary crisis in the state. Results have been declared and we believe the election was conducted.
“We believe the governor won the election and we plead that people should accept it and work with the governor. Let all of us support him so that the state will move ahead.
“There should be nothing that will push the state backwards. We should think about the development of the state, starting with the issue of peace and security in the state. Within this last period, three years plus, there have been significant improvements in terms of cultism, kidnapping, and so on and so forth.
“I was saying before this election that if Diri lost this election, I would have relocated my mother to Abuja.”
Elated that criminal elements no longer hold sway in the state, Jonathan urged the people to support Diri to move the state forward. He said: “My cousin was kidnapped two times. On one of those occasions, one of my cousins, Solo, was killed because they threw him into the river and he didn’t know how to swim.
“So, we’ve passed through hell in this state and we’ve seen a little light at the end of the tunnel. So, people should calm down, and allow Diri to focus on governance so that he will be able to propel this state forward so that we will benefit as citizens of the state.”
Diri emerged winner of the Bayesla State governorship election held penultimate weekend.
The Independent Electoral Commission, (INEC) Returning Officer, Prof Faruq Kuta, who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Of Technology, Minna, announced Diri winner of the poll at the collation centre of the election on Monday.
Diri polled 175,196 to defeat his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress, who garnered 110,108 votes while the Labour Party polled 905 votes.
The governor, and his running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo were presented their Certificates of Return by the INEC’s National Commissioner for Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu on Friday.
– The Nation
