The Peoples Democratic Party’s publicity secretary in Bayelsa State, Mr. Ebiye Ogoli, has refuted rumors circulating in some circles that the purpose of state governor Douye Diri’s visit to President Bola Tinubu on Thursday in Abuja was to express gratitude for his Supreme Court wins.
In an interview with our correspondent on Friday, he clarified that the governor had come to Tinubu to congratulate him on the court’s decision, and that his actions were considered anti-party.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court rendered a decision in favor of Tinubu in the appeals brought before it by PDP and Labour presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, respectively, in response to their displeasure with the Presidential Election Petitions Court.
But not long after the seven-member panel’s ruling, Diri was seen shaking hands with Tinubu in the president’s office in Abuja on national television. The president was accompanied by the following officials: Gboyega Oyetola, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy; Nyesom Wike, Minister of Federal Capital Territory; Dapo Abiodun, Governor of Ogun State; Abdullahi Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress; and Ajuri Ngelale, Special Advisor to the President on Media and Publicity.
Many speculated that Diri had visited Tinubu to celebrate the verdict with him, after the development sparked rumors.
Ogoli clarified, however, that Diri’s the Bayelsa governor’s, visit was just coincidental as he had an appointment with the president on Thursday.
He claimed that the governor had been attempting to arrange an official meeting with the president so that he could talk about matters pertaining to Bayelsa.
“What I know for a fact is that our governor has made multiple attempts to meet with the president,” he stated. That being said, what viewers saw on national television was merely coincidental.
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In order to help the president grasp certain things, it was scheduled for him , Diri , to see the president on Thursday. Additionally, the governor has been wanting the president to serve as Bayelsa’s Chief Security Officer due to a few specific issues.
It was a coincidence because he was scheduled to meet with the president on that exact day. It wasn’t as though he traveled there in response to the ruling from the Supreme Court. No.
The Bayelsa PDP official insisted that the visit was entirely coincidental and that neither the judgment nor the attempt to disparage Abubakar’s persona were anti-party moves.
“Far from it (anti-party),” stated Ogoli. It’s not about attempting to undermine or disparage the character of our presidential candidate, I can assure you of that. In no way. It was all a coincidence that the two met.
He said of Diri, that “he is one politician who has always reached out to everybody on both sides of the divide because he sees himself as a leader, particularly in Bayelsa,” and that “he is a calm and friendly personality who does not believe in do-or-die politics.”
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