Douye Diri, the Governor of Bayelsa State and Chairman of the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party Governorship Screening Committee for the South-South has disclosed that the exercise conducted at the party’s zonal secretariat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was not without some drama.
He said that the mild drama took place during the screening of one of the governorship aspirants from Rivers State, Siminialaye Fubara, who is the immediate past Accountant-General of the state.
Diri stated this while delivering his speech during this year’s Workers’ Day celebration by the Bayelsa State chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress at the Peace Park, Yenagoa, on Sunday.
According to him, the drama ensued when one of the screening committee members pointed out that Fubara was not qualified to contest the 2023 Rivers governorship election because he was the state’s accountant-general.
He said that his intervention as the chairman of the committee, however, saved the situation based on his legislative background as a former member of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Diri while addressing the workers said, “I like to share this with you. Just on Thursday, I was in Port Harcourt as chairman of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party South-South Governorship Aspirants Screening Committee.
“As you know, our state (Bayelsa) and Edo are off-season. So there are four states’ governorship aspirants that were screened by me and my committee members. But what I like to share with you is the emphasis on the selection of your theme for this year.
“Now, one of those aspirants that I screened from Rivers State, who is aspiring to be the governor of Rivers State was a worker, the Accountant-General of Rivers State. Does that surprise you?”
He continued, “There was a mild drama in that screening as one of my committee members immediately noted that the officer that I’m about to screen was not qualified because he was the accountant-general of Rivers State.
“And with my legislative background, I quickly pointed out the section of the constitution that allows civil servants to participate in politics only if they resign 30 days before the election.”
The governor explained that he came up with the narrative to further buttress the aptness of the theme for the 2022 May Day celebration themed, ‘Labour, Politics and the Quest for Good Governance and Development in Nigeria’,
“I believe that even in this democratic era, workers have a key role to play to install a government that will be responsible to the people. Our constitution has liberated workers to participate in politics,” he added.
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