indications have emerged that the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has
decided to dump her godson and Presidential Aide, Waripamowei Dudafa, for
a former chairman of Niger-Delta Development Commission, Timi Alaibe.Dudafa is Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on
Domestic Matters and Social Events.
The First Lady’s decision was said to be part of her desperation to kick
Governor Henry Seriake Dickson out of the Creek Heaven Government House at
all cost in 2016.
This was one of the decisions reached during an emergency meeting held in
Abuja last night. Some select members of Bayelsa State Council of Elders
and top politicians attended the meeting from Kolokuma-Opokuma LGA.
Sources at the meeting said the leaders categorically told the First Lady
that they were more comfortable with Timi Alaibe instead of her preferred
godson, Waripamowei Dudafa, whom they claim is rather too young and lacks
the experience and maturity to hold such a sensitive office.
“The First Lady at first kicked against it insisting that the choice of
Dudafa is not negotiable but when the elders threatened that rather than
support Dudafa, they would go back to Yenagoa to pledge their loyalty to
the incumbent governor, she had to soft-pedal and pitch tent with Timi
Alaibe”, a source said.
Just last week, Bayelsa Elders Consultative Forum
(BECF), led by Chief Prince Abeki, had hinted that Alaibe will declare his
interest in the governorship race by June, even though he is set to run
under the platform of All Progressives Congress. It has
been authoritatively confirmed that Alaibe collected his APC membership
card from the APC Chairman in Bayelsa state, Tiwe Oruminighe.
Alaibe who was reputed to be one of the major financiers of OBJ’s third
term bid, has been holding several nocturnal meetings with key politicians
in the state, mostly from his Kolokuma-Opokuma clan.
The agenda is to support someone from Kolokuma-Opokuma to take over from
Dickson. To this end, prominent politicians from KOLGA have thrown their
weight behind
Alaibe. A very close ally of Alaibe said he has been meeting with some
Northern APC leaders to woo them on his governorship ambition.
“Alaibe wants the APC leaders to ‘sell’ him to the President-elect, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (retd). He is counting on his friendship with the North
to return the favour he showed to them while as NDDC Chief Executive.
But Alaibe is not trusted back at home because of his attachment to
friends, who are mostly non-indigenes”, another source stated.
Already, there are fears and apprehension among Bayelsans that Alaibe as
governor will lavish Bayelsa’s resources on his friends like he did in
NDDC, rather than develop the state.
The spokesperson of Bayelsa Young Professionals, Tarabina Jones-Peters,
said in view of the drop in federal allocation, which has hampered the
spate of developmental projects in the State, Bayelsans need a leader who
will put the state first above his personal friends and personal interest.
He said, “Unfortunately, we do not see Alaibe as that kind of leader.
Therefore, those who are rooting for
Alaibe’s candidacy should have a re-think. Bayelsans are not happy with
Alaibe because as NDDC Chief Executive, he did not do anything to develop
the state.
“Instead he was busy dishing out favors and loads
of money to militants and northern politicians in a bid to curry their
favour to entrench his position as NDDC helmsman and to maintain his
‘good boy’ image at the national level.”
As at the time of this report, Alaibe has not denied any of the reports
linking him with contesting the governorship in Bayelsa come 2016