The nomination of Senator Heineken Lokpobiri as ministerial nominee by the
All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Bayelsa State, has continued to
generate more tension among the intelligentsia in the State.
The Bayelsa Solidarity Forum has therefore called on the National Assembly
to replace him because of his questionable political antecedents “both as
a former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Speaker of the
Bayelsa state House of Assembly.
“It is on this premise, that we are calling on the leadership of the
National Assembly to have a re-think over the nomination and the screening
of Lokpobiri. If truly the APC stands for what it has been professing, the
name Lokpobiri shouldn’t have come up in the first instance, let alone
sending it to the Senate for ratification”, the BSF said in a petition by
its Secretary, Godspower elekumo-Davidson to the National Assembly.
The group catalogued the sins of Lokpobiri against Nigerians and the
people of Bayelsa State both while in the State House of Assembly and as
Senator of the Federal Republic.
Belekumo-Davidson said, “For record purposes, Heineken Lokpobiri was
elected as a member of the State House of Assembly in 1999 and
subsequently became its first speaker but was later impeached in 2002 for
gross financial misconduct.
“Also, he spearheaded the bombing of the administrative wing of the State
House of Assembly complex. He was on self imposed exile in Port Harcourt,
Rivers state for many years. This was done in a bid to escape police
arrest.
“In 2011, Heineken Lokpobiri contested on the platform of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) but he lost to the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Rt.
Hon. Perembowei Ebebi, who was the clear winner of the election. The then
chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.
Attahiru Jega, had on national television called for the arrest and
prosecution of Senator Lokpobiri who was caught with a ballot box during
that National Assembly election that was conducted by INEC on April 9,
2011.
“Jega said, ‘a Senator is to be prosecuted by INEC for electoral
malpractices. The senator commandeered corps members and election
materials to his house. We are discussing with security agencies about
having him apprehended and prosecuted.'”
When Ebebi appealed to the court, a horde of miscreants sacked the
court and destroyed court documents. Matters became worsened. In some
amazing abracadabra, whereas the law court wanted Lokpobiri prosecuted, he
somehow managed to wriggle himself out of trouble and was declared the
eventual winner.”
During the December 7, 2014 primaries, drug-inebriated thugs tried to
disrupt the national assembly primaries of the PDP in Sagbama but were
repulsed through the timely intervention of law enforcement agents. This
has since been followed by reprehensible attempts to suborn the courts
to subvert the course of justice and to obtain judgement through the back
door.
The self-styled “Hitler of Ekeremor politics” is living true to the
sobriquet he is so proud of. For him politics is war by some other means
and all is fair in war.
“The security report at our disposal revealed that Lokpobiri has recruited
some thugs from Ekeremor end of the State to unleash violence during the
governorship election slated for Saturday, December 5, 2015. To carry out
the dastardly act, over 50 speed boats have been bought.
“The list of his nefarious acts is endless. That is why we are surprise
that people like Lokpobiri could make the list of our respected President,
General Muhammadu Buhari. As a body, the issue that we are raising is
neither personal nor political, it is in the interest of the entire Ijaw
nation. While other states are well represented, we will not fold our
hands by allowing Lokpobiri to represent our interest.
“The National Assembly should ask him, as a senator representing Bayelsa
West senatorial district, what impact as he made. We are saying no to the
candidacy of Lokpobiri. We have credible people, even in APC that can
represent our interest.”