Former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Udengs Eradiri has urged Governor Douye Diri to desist from making statements capable of stiring tension or creating confusion over the zoning of the governorship position in Bayelsa State.
Key Highlights:
- Udengs Eradiri cautioned Governor Douye Diri over comments on governorship zoning.
- He said the governorship should rotate to the Eastern Senatorial District in Bayelsa State.
- Eradiri noted that the Central and West districts had already held power for years.
- He argued the East had not completed a full eight-year tenure as governor.
- He warned that changing the zoning arrangement could create political tension ahead of the next election.
According to Eradiri, who was the Labour Party governorship candidate in Bayelsa State in 2023, the governor’s alleged comment that the next governor could emerge from either the Eastern Senatorial District or the West might trigger political tension in the state.
Speaking on the zoning arrangement on Friday in Yenagoa, the former commissioner, insisted that the governorship should naturally rotate to the Eastern Senatorial District in line with the established political understanding in the state.
He noted that the Central Senatorial District currently occupies the governorship seat through Gov. Diri, while the West had earlier produced a governor, who served for eight years in the person of Senator Seriake Dickson.
According to him, although the East had produced two governors in the past, the district had not collectively completed eight years in office, making it the rightful zone to produce the next governor.
Eradiri, who said he is from the Central Senatorial District, questioned the rationale behind including the West Senatorial District in the succession debate.
He noted that proponents of the West Senatorial District often rely on the local government argument, adding that if zoning is to be considered from that perspective, Yenagoa should have a stronger claim as the host of the state capital.
He lamented that Yenagoa had not received the level of political recognition and development it deserved because it had yet to produce a governor since the creation of the state.
Read Also:
- 17 ADC Reps dump party for NDC as another joins APC
- Delta APC disowns fake list of consensus candidates for House of Assembly elections
- APC takes a swipe at Obi, says he lacks commitment to build any party
The former IYC leader said most political stakeholders had accepted that power should shift to the East, warning that reopening the debate could lead to unnecessary political tension.
He said: “The West has produced the governor for eight years and the deputy governor for another eight years. So it is naturally the East that the pendulum is swinging to.
“So, when the governor, who is our political leader, begins to sit in the middle, then it becomes a recipe for chaos.”
He warned that comments from Gov. Diri, whom he described as the political leader of the state, would be taken seriously given the already tense political atmosphere in Bayelsa.
Eradiri added that if the zoning arrangement was altered, some politicians who had earlier aligned with the East’s turn might begin to reconsider their positions and aspirations ahead of the next governorship election.
