Posted on Feb 24, 2020
BAYELSA Governor Douye Diri on Sunday unfolded his agenda for the state, saying he knew the take-off point, having been part of the immediate past administration.
He also told reporters in Abuja that he dubbed himself a miracle governor.
Diri said: “I christen myself a miracle governor. At a point, everybody gave up; we (the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) were the only party the All Progressives Congress (APC) could not approach. We filed application in court – the only place we had hope was in the judiciary.
“The case between APC and APC was thrown out. The APC applauded the Supreme Court and on Thursday, February 13, 2020, the hammer came. We were in the wilderness and a torturous journey, but here we are, a miracle governor. They attempted to use the so-called federal might to impose somebody on Beyelsa.
“There were those who said there will be no governor in Bayelsa State. To the glory of God, Bayelsa State has a governor. I am indeed a miracle governor.”
Diri was sworn in as governor on February 14, 2020, following the disqualification by the Supreme Court of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, David Lyon, and his deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, over alleged discrepancies in Degi-Eremienyo’s name.
On his agenda for the state, Diri said that he was part and parcel of the Seriake Dickson’s government and therefore, needed not be told where to start.
He, however, noted that, principally, his administration would focus and re-energise the economy of the state to make it more vibrant, promising to refocus Bayelsans from being a civil servant state.
Diri, who assured that he knew where he was going, identified education as a top priority of his administration.
On the Supreme Court ruling that disqualified the APC candidate and his deputy, he said that PDP did not take forgery case to court.
Diri said: “What we took to court was a case of false information. The onus was on him to prove how and why he had the multiple names. We did not institute a case of forgery. It was a case of false information.”
On his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpor, alleged to have falsified his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate, Diri claimed that there was no case, noting that the NYSC misspelt the name of his deputy in the certificate issued him.
Ewhrudjakpor, he said, wrote to NYSC to complain that the certificate issued to him was not his because his name was wrongly written.
He added that even the case Ewhrudjakpor instituted before they were inaugurated was dead on arrival “because he now enjoys immunity.”
Diri said that even before he was inaugurated, his message had been “reconciliation, reconciliation and reconciliation because we are all Bayelsans.”
On violence and destruction of property in the state after the Supreme Court ruling, he that people in the state should appreciate the fact that “violence is an ill wind that blows nobody any good.”
He said: “Nobody has monopoly of violence. We will not be pushed to that. We have started with reconciliation. The Ijaw people are happy with the court judgement. Bayelsa is peaceful, contrary to the false impression some are creating.
“In spite of provocation, Bayelsa is peaceful. The 120,000 votes APC claimed to have got from Southern Ijaw was not more than 30,000 to 35,000.”