By ARODIEGWU EZIUKWU
Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been described as an ambitious politician without bearings who always seeks to get political power without working hard for it.
Former Special Adviser to the Government of Bayelsa State, Chief Perekeme Richard Kpodoh, made the observation while addressing journalists Thursday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
He said that Jonathan ruled as President of Nigeria for over six years without any meaningful development in Bayelsa, and called on the former President to avoid further political voyages to deceive the electorate, as – according to Kpodoh – Bayelsans are no longer prepared to trade with their votes without meaningful profit.
“I didn’t feel sorry that Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan didn’t appear as one of the aspirants and didn’t emerge as Presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as some people had expected. He shouldn’t expect to be lucky all the time.
“He was Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State by chance, not that he worked hard for it. He thereafter became Acting Governor and then Governor when his boss, Chief Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, was impeached.
“He didn’t work for it, former President Olusegun Obasanjo just wanted to appease Bayelsans because he saw that people of the state were not happy with him over the impeachment of their son, and so made Jonathan the Vice Presidential candidate to late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
“Goodluck thereafter became Acting President and later, President, when Yar’Adua died while in office.
“Jonathan shouldn’t push his luck too far because there are several other Nigerians who are more competent and more experienced than him,” Kpodoh said, while fielding questions from reporters.
Continuing, Kpodoh said: “This is a party (APC), others built and he thought the builders will fold their hands and allow him to reap where he didn’t sow. The APC has more capable hands. Look at Bola Ahmed Tinubu that is Presidential flag bearer of that party, he laboured for the party and funded it, and therefore deserve being the Presidential flagbearer of the party.”
Kpodoh averred that Jonathan has lost support of Bayelsans because his consideration for the state in terms of infrastructural development was abysmally low while he held sway as President.
“He thought of developing Bayelsa when elected for a second term. Is he God that should think of his tomorrow without laying a solid foundation today for the tomorrow? Show me those things he did in Bayelsa? He only wasted his golden opportunity without knowing its value and the powers that he held until he was voted out.
“We are talking about major infrastructure. Look at the Bayelsa end of the East-West road, is it not shameful that Bayelsa produced a President that couldn’t complete that road?
“Go and look at other states that produced Presidents. Do they look like Bayelsa? He has no mind of his own, jumping from one pillar to the other. He wanted power again. Is he the only one in Nigeria? He has lost his political relevance as long as I am concerned,” Kpodoh fired.
Predicting the outcome of the 2023 Presidential election, he said: “This is where the matter is. Atiku Abubakar is a politician with vast experience.
“He has been a Governor and Vice President, though he had problem with his boss then, President Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo.
“On the other hand, Bola Ahmed Tinubu was also governor of Lagos State for eight years. He developed Lagos to almost the status of Dubai. He is also a politician with a pool of knowledge who has made and built people across Nigeria.
“I see a money game in 2023 where Nigerians like the proverbial Piper, may be forced to align with the highest payer.”
On his previous political activities that predated the formation of APC, Kpodo said: “We were the people who left the PDP to form the New PDP that later metamorphosed alongside ACN and the CPC to the APC in the state.
“I was the Chairman of the New PDP in the state and I was seriously hunted alongside my secretary, Mr. Godsidi, by these same people who are today shamelessly seeking to join the APC through the backdoor.
“And because the state was not safe for us, we fled to other states for safety. They even threatened to bring down my hotel at the Tombia axis, claiming that government wants to construct a flyover in the area, a claim that was a mirage in its entirety.”
Kpodoh disagreed with predictions that Northern Governors in APC may dump Tinubu in the general election, to support Atiku Abubakar who is from the North.
“It’s possible politically but I disagree with those predicting that Northern Governors will betray Tinubu to vote for Atiku.
“Most of the governors that worked and voted for Tinubu are from the North. Remember that it was this same Tinubu, while he was leader of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), that proposed the amalgamation of that party and Muhammadu Buhari’s CPC that finally produced the latter as President in 2015. So I don’t, as an individual, see the North under the watch of President Buhari betraying Atiku,” he said.
He however called on either of the duo that emerges as President in 2023 to pay serious attention to the collapsing security, economy, the devalued naira, collapsing tertiary education as well as the neglected civil service, when elected.
Speaking on the security situation in Bayelsa, Kpodoh charged those in authority to redouble efforts and curb the menace that has claimed lives of several innocent souls.
According to him, a larger part of the forest in the state and the rivers are occupied by foreign farmers, fishermen and herdsmen who are suspected to be carrying out attacks on native farmers and fishermen without provocation.
He cited the recent killing of a chieftain of the APC, Mr. Sunday Oputu, in his house along Bay-bridge area in the state capital and a PDP supporter at Ogbia town during the PDP Constituency 1 Primaries. The Police have yet to make any arrest in the two killings.
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