The Niger Delta Movement for Peace (NDMP) has accused the Governor Douye Diri administration in Bayelsa State of sponsoring campaign of calumny against the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku
Coordinator of the NDMP, Jacob Sontai made the accusation in a statement he issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Saturday.
The group said it can confirm authoritatively that the Bayelsa State Government is behind the rumours of Ogbuku sponsoring the activities of the New Associates in the state.
Sontai said the state government bankrolled a group, which identified itself as the Niger Delta Peace Ambassadors (NDOPA) led by one Bassey Patrick, to make the allegation.
The coordinator said the allegation is false in its entirety and challenged the Bayelsa State Government to provide credible material evidence to prove the allegation.
He explained that the New Associates is a political movement formed by friends and associates of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to highlight the achievements of President Bola Tinubu across the country as a basis for drumming and mobilising support for his re-election in 2027.
According to Sontai, The New Associates has become unstoppable as it is gaining momentum in various states of the federation and is beyond the sponsorship of any individual.
He said: “Therefore, it is absolute falsehood for the Bayelsa State Government to link the managing director of the NDDC to the movement. It is even preposterous to claim that Ogbuku was in cahoots with anybody to destabilise Bayelsa.
“Well, we are not surprised, as this is not the first time the government of Bayelsa State has tried to paint Ogbuku in a bad light. The question is, what are they afraid of?
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“Ogbuku remains a beacon of hope to the younger generation, and no amount of blackmail will deter young people from supporting him.
“How can Ogbuku, who has been instrumental to the development of Bayelsa, including lighting up the state that had been in darkness for months, turn around to work for the destabilisation of the same state?
“The Bayelsa State Government should leave Ogbuku out of its ill-conceived and self-centered war against the New Associates.
“The truth is that the Douye Diri-led state government is working against the second-term ambition of President Tinubu because of Diri’s vice-presidential interest in 2027.
“As part of promoting Diri’s vice-presidential ambition, the Bayelsa Government is ready to shoot down any group drumming support for President Tinubu’s second term in office.”
Sontai however, said Diri was fighting a lost battle and wasting the state’s resources sponsoring an agenda that is dead on arrival.
