Wike’s ally appointed Bayelsa PDP chairperson amidst feud with Diri

George Turnah, an ally of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has been appointed the chairperson of the caretaker committee to run the affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State, south-south Nigeria.

The PDP South South Zonal Working Committee disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The statement signed by the PDP zonal spokesperson, Prince Isong, said the setting up of the caretaker committee for Bayelsa followed the dissolution of the State Working Committee of the party in the state “on account of various acts of gross misconduct by the dissolved executive”.

In the statement, Mr Isong said the PDP also appointed a new caretaker committee for the party in Edo State, which is still within the South-South.

“The Zonal Working Committee took these decisions in the best interest of the Party after a careful review of the activities of the Party in both States in line with the Constitution of the Party as amended in 2017, particularly Articles 10(1), (f), (g), (k), and (4) as well as Articles 26(2), (a), 27(2) (a and b), 58(1), (a), (c), (i), (j), and 59(1) (f).

“The Zonal Working Committee hopes that this bold move will strengthen the Party’s foundation and ensure effective leadership in both Bayelsa and Edo States,” Mr Isong said.

Mr Turnah, the new chairperson of the PDP caretaker committee in Bayelsa, is the South-South zonal secretary of the party.

A former executive assistant on public affairs to Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, Mr Turnah fell out with Mr Diri and switched political loyalty to Mr Wike. He is the convener of the New Associates, Bayelsa Chapter, a platform he planned the postponed mega rally in Bayelsa for the FCT minister.

Mr Turnah’s appointment further confirms Mr Wike’s influence within the PDP.

Before now, Governor Diri said Mr Turnah was not a member of the PDP in Bayelsa. The governor was also against the Bayelsa rally for Mr Wike.

“As you are aware, we have threats from our sister state. The political crisis there is threatening us, and we will not allow what is happening there to come to Bayelsa State,” the governor said last month about the suspended rally.

He had urged security agents in the state to be on alert and warned that any attempt to import Rivers’ political crisis to Bayelsa would be resisted.

Mr Wike’s spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, had dismissed Governor Diri’s security alert over the planned rally as baseless.

Mr Olayinka said Nigerians were free to express their support for anyone, anywhere and anytime.

Wike a threat to PDP rule in South-south?

What is today known as Bayelsa was a part of Rivers until the Sani Abacha military regime created it (Bayelsa) on 1 October 1996. Both states share a lot in common, culturally and politically.

Mr Wike, a former governor of Rivers, has been engaged in a protracted political fight with his suspended successor, Siminalayi Fubara, over the control of the political structures in the oil-rich state, a development that has outraged many Nigerians.

Governor Diri is among the top Nigerian leaders who condemned President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers as a fallout of the political fight between Messrs Wike and Fubara.