Two weeks after former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and
\nwife, Dame Patience formally endorsed the re-election bid of the incumbent
\nGovernor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson in a mega rally at
\nthe Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa, the state capital, the former
\npresident appear to have eaten his words. Governor Dickson has already
\nemerged the sole Guber candidate of the ruling Peoples\u2019 Democratic Party
\n(PDP) in the state.<\/p>\n
But as politicians upped the ante ahead of the December 5 governorship
\nelection in Bayelsa State, a wave of complex intrigue is now enveloping
\nthe political landscape. It emerged last Sunday (September 20th) that Dr.
\nJonathan and his wife are now secretly supporting Chief Timi Alaibe, one
\nof the 18 Guber aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress
\n(APC). The APC governorship primary comes up on Tuesday, September 22 in
\nYenagoa.<\/p>\n
Jonathan\u2019s dumping of Dickson is not unconnected with his belief that the
\ngovernor is uncontrollable and fears that a re-election of the governor
\nmay spell doom for the former first family\u2019s quest to at least control
\nBayelsa politics from their Otuoke Court yard. The former First Lady is
\nparticularly angry that Governor Dickson is miserly and opted for Alaibe
\nwho is widely believed to be a pay master.<\/p>\n
Sources close to the Jonathans claim their endorsement of Alaibe was a
\nfall back strategy by the former president and his wife to forestall any
\npossible persecution and to remain politically relevant in case the APC
\nrigs out his party, the PDP, through the use of federal might in the
\nelection. The truce was reportedly brokered by ex-militant leader and one
\nof the major beneficiaries of the Jonathan government, Government Tompolo.
\nHe was said to have held a lengthy meeting with Jonathan and his wife at
\ntheir Otuoke country home last week before facilitating the meeting
\nbetween Jonathan, wife and Alaibe on Sunday.<\/p>\n
At the meeting yesterday, a source, who craved anonymity, said Tombolo
\nlaid out the strategic issues of the forthcoming election and the need to
\nprotect Jonathan\u2019s interest in case the APC wins. As such the idea of
\nhaving a Plan B which will hedge against possible persecution and loss of
\npolitical relevance was tabled which invariably led to the suggestion that
\nthe former president should also support Alaibe, an ally of Tompolo and
\nlong standing business partner, was agreed upon. As a mark of his
\nseriousness, Jonathan donated undisclosed whopping sum as his own
\ncontribution towards the funding of Alaibe\u2019s aspiration, to clinch the
\ngovernorship primary ticket holding tomorrow.<\/p>\n
The source claimed Jonathan had earlier expressed fears that should APC
\ntake over the state, he would have to go on exile for fear of being
\npersecuted by the APC-led government in Bayelsa State. With this
\nunderstanding and following pressure from Tompolo, Alaibe was said to have
\nagreed to work with Jonathan, assuring all parties to the arrangement that
\nupon emergence as governor in February next year, he will respect Dame
\nPatience, protect Jonathan\u2019s interest and even go a step further to
\nprevail on President Muhammadu Buhari not to witch hunt him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the nature of politics. There\u2019s no permanent enemy but permanent
\ninterest. What is unfolding is baffling but it is true Jonathan is
\nhobnobbing with Alaibe for strategic political reasons. I can tell you
\ncategorically that Tomoplo as the go-between had a meeting with him and
\nhis wife and Alaibe in Otuoke yesterday and all the issues were well
\ndiscussed. It does not mean he has totally abandoned Dickson but based on
\nthe pressure from Tompolo, he wants to have a Plan B and it should
\ninterest you that he actually donated some dollars to fund Alaibe\u2019s
\ncampaign to get the ticket in tomorrow\u2019s crucial contest. That\u2019s the
\nsituation but let\u2019s wait and see\u201d, the source said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, it was also gathered that as part of his deft moves to clinch
\nthe APC governorship ticket, Alaibe has temporarily stopped to relate with
\nthe Senate President, Bukola Saraki for fear of hurting the presidency and
\nthe national leadership of the APC, who are believed to be behind Saraki\u2019s
\ntravails. Saraki is a strong backer of the former NNDC boss. Both
\npersonalities had managed the defunct Societe Generale Bank as bankers at
\nthe apex and have since built a strong political alliance, making the
\nSenate President to swear that he would do all he could to make Alaibe APC
\nGuber flag-bearer in the forthcoming polls .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two weeks after former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and wife, Dame Patience formally endorsed the re-election bid of the incumbent Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n