Ijaw youths on Monday told the Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that they would resist the attempt to make someone from the Urhobo ethnic group a Deputy Governor in Bayelsa, the only Ijaw homogeneous state.
The youths, who rose from their meeting in Warri, Delta State, vowed to mobilise people to vote massively against the PDP in Bayelsa if its running mate had questionable identity.
The youths, who said they met under the auspices of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, said Bayelsa belongs to Ijaw people adding that they would only support known indigenes, whose roots are traceable to other states.
The group in a statement signed by James Kombowei appealed to the people of Bayelsa to beware of PDP’s antics and wondered why the party leadership allowed the ambition of a few persons to colour its style of politics.
He said: “We have observed what is happening in Bayelsa PDP and it is indeed a sad commentary. We don’t know Governor Seriake Dickson with this kind of politics. Despite the hullabaloo against his choice of the PDP candidate, he still gave him the ticket. Diri is a known Ijaw man and we are comfortable with him.
“What we can’t allow is imposing anybody, whose lineage is linked to Urhobo on Ijaw people as a deputy governor. We are asking the PDP and the governor to drop the idea if they are nursing it. Anyway even if they don’t stop because they may be blinded by some ambition, we don’t have any qualms with that.
“We only pity them. Thank God there is credible alternative elsewhere. So, we are asking all the Ijaw people in Bayelsa to reject the pair of PDP motivated by greed and direct their votes to other parties that have the interest of Ijaw people”.
He urged Dickson to steer clear from those who wanted the downfall of the only homogenous Ijaw state by imposing an Urhobo man as the deputy governor of the state.
He described the act as the shame of the century nurtured under the supervision of governor Dickson, adding that persons blindfolded by their personal and selfish political ambitions would always fail.
He said the Ijaw people had resolved never to mortgage the only homogenous state to a non-Ijaw insisting that it was an abominable act to try to impose an Urhobo deputy governor on Ijaw people.
“We will campaign round the Ijaw Nation especially Bayelsa State to elect only 100% Ijaw tickets. We will prefer to elect even an uneducated Ijaw person to govern over our Ijaw state than allow a non-Ijaw to lead our proud Ijaw nation.
“We believe that Governor Dickson will not allow this evil which is clearly against the ethos and logos of the Ijaw struggle which he has always stood for”, he said. (The Nation)
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