Clement Ovokeroye Paul, a native of Ofoni, in the Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, was known to be one of the closest aides of the late deputy governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewrudjakpo. He had the ears of his former boss and was privy to certain information around the office of the deputy governor and that of the governor.
There were things the former deputy governor told him about the time the governor, Senator Douye Diri decided to defect from the PDP to the APC. Some of those information are beginning to come out. But what Ewrudjakpor did not tell him was that his benefactor and former governor, Senator Seriake Dickson, was going to float a new party.
So, last week, when Ofoni people decided to move into the APC, it was for a reason. In this interview, Paul told OFONIME UMANAH that the former deputy governor’s kinsmen decided to join the APC en masse in keeping with the desire of the former deputy governor.
Excerpts:
You worked with the former deputy governor, Senator Lawrence Eredjakpo. What pleasant and unforgettable memories of him can you remember as one his very close aides?
I will remember him for his cordial relationship with the governor of Bayesla State, his principal, Senator Douye Diri, before he died. Secondly, I will remember him for his unflinching loyalty to the governor.
What were the striking things you noticed about this relationship you are talking about?
I worked with him very closely and I noticed that throughout his time in office, there was no decision he took without consulting the governor, his principal. There was no resolution he reached in a meeting without first of all getting the consent of the governor before disclosing such a resolution or his intentions of government to the group of people he had the opportunity of meeting with. I equally observed that he was interested and very focused in supporting his principal to achieve the common goal of Bayesla State.
I’m sorry to take you back to memories you are trying to forget. But because of events of the last few days, it has become necessary to begin to talk about this again. When the governor defected to the APC and your former boss decided to stay back in the PDP, can you recall the things he was talking about at that time concerning that defection and why he did not defect with the governor? Can you also recall any discussion around him and the former governor, Senator Seriake Dickson, especially that period of the defection?
Well, like you know, the late deputy governor was a public figure and there were certain information that were meant to be classified. But for the public consumption, when the governor defected, he didn’t join the governor in defecting to the APC, yes. At that time, there were several reactions and on more occasion, I approached him to inform him of the reactions that were trending at the time and he cautioned me severally against joining issues with anybody; that he was focused on joining the governor in completing their tenure in office, that the governor had the right to belong to any political party of his choice and that he equally had the right to choose his political party.
At that time, he never mentioned to any of us his close aides or relatives and kinsmen, that he had the intention of even defecting to any other political party. He never had the intention of defecting to any political party. What I understood from his body language was to see if the PDP would be able to put their house in order so that he can remain in PDP since that was within his right to do, and then give the required support to his principal to complete their tenure of office by 2028. And, I recall during that time, there was day the governor took a moment in one of the state executive council meetings to address the issue of his defection and he mentioned that he took that decision with due consultation with several leaders of the state and the then deputy governor was not excluded. Meaning that he duly consulted him and he expressed his own reservation. But the governor said he was not going to defect. But then, he was still in touch with his deputy, that nobody can tell, maybe before the end of his own administration both of them could also find themselves in same political party even if is it was very difficult for a governor and a deputy governor belonging to a two different political parties.
Which means there was a possibility that the deputy governor could have joined the governor in APC if he were still alive?
I won’t say that for a fact because the deputy governor, as we speak, is no more and he would have been in a better position to say whether he would have joined APC or not.
Even the day he died, he had a conversation. They had a very fruitful deliberation and of course he was also rendering that support to the governor in representation of him at a meeting that very day before the incident happened. Even if he didn’t mention to anybody that he was going to join the governor in APC, he was very certain that he was really determined to support the governor in finishing his administration very strongly.
Maybe, this explains to the decision of the Ofoni people, the late deputy governor’s kinsmen, to leave the PDP and join the governor in the APC, without considering the NDC, a party that has been floated by Dickson who was also the former governor’s benefactor?
That is a very rational question but like you read from me yesterday (on my facebook wall), the decision of the majority of Ofoni people to align with the governor in his new party was informed by the cordial relationship our brother had with him, while he was alive. Both of them had a cordial relationship and the governor affirmed that severally in the course of the condolence visits after his death, that they both had a cordial relationships up to the time he passed and the fact is that, as a community, we were with the late deputy governor when they both contested the election and the community massively supported the governor during that time.
There were sacrifices that the community made and it is like being invited to join the cultivation of a very big hectare of land and all of a sudden during the period of harvest, the person who invited you left the scene; it will not be wise for everyone of you invited to join in that cultivation to pull out of the farm where others who were not even on the ground at the time are now on ground to participate in the harvest. You know quite well, there are several projects the state government has initiated in Ofoni community. Some of them have not been completed and the governor will need the support of the community to enjoy a stable government to enable have the peace of mind to begin to see how he can complete those projects. The defection has nothing to do with the former governor, Dickson, so to speak because we acknowledge the contribution of the former governor, the sacrifices and the contribution of former governor in ensuring that our brother sustained that nomination he made to have him become a deputy governor in the state. We appreciate him. But the defection has nothing to do with him. The former governor is earnestly qualified to follow any political party. It is his right to so do. But what some of us are not comfortable with as kinsmen, close aides and disciples and relatives of the late deputy governor is the fact that our brother never mentioned to us at the time he was alive, that Dickson had the intention of floating any political party or he had the intention of leaving his party to another party because he never mentioned to us.
So, I feel as a people, even while we have the right to associate with him even if he is dead, there are certain things we must be mindful of because some of these things, if we are not careful, will deliberately cause a lot of embarrassment to his person.
So, the defection has nothing to do with the former governor. The former governor had a very cordial relationship with the Ofoni people. We also acknowledge the role he played before, during and after the burial of our dear son.
That is exactly the point. So, if there existed this kind of relationships between the Ofoni people and Dickson, how come Ofoni people decided to go en masse into the APC, instead of Dickson’s NDC?
It is very simple because I don’t know of any community where a serving deputy governor is from and the entire community decided to stand against the government of the day. The implication of doing that will mean that from that time to the end of the remaining years of the administration, the government will perceive the community as the community that is in opposition. That will be a very unreasonable thing to do and it will be to the detriment of the Ofoni people. In any case, even the current deputy governor recently appointed, Dr. Peter Akpe is also from our constituency, our kinsman.
So, what do you think about Dickson’s Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC
I commend him for taking that bold set to float a new party at this time.
Somebody even recently said that the party is a room and parlour political party and others have said it is just a party within Bayesla State. What is your take?
Well, I am not a member of NDC to know whether the party exists only in Bayesla State. I don’t have access to the party’s database. The point is that there is no party that is confined to only one geographic environment. The national leader of the party is a senator and he is in Abuja. So, a person who is resident in Abuja cannot be seen as somebody who is not popular. It is a new party and it will take time to spread to every nook and cranny of the country and people have the choice to make, whether to join or not.
Including Ofoni people?
Well, the community as a whole is not one that infringes on the fundamental rights of people to vote and be voted for. Anybody who wishes to belong to the party in the community is also free to join them and the resolution reached by the community doesn’t mean stop or exclude anybody from belonging to any political party. But there is a party in power, there is a government in power. What we know quite well is that at the end of the day, everyone will come back home, look at the options and the samples that are on the table and we decide what to do at the end of the day. As of now, we are in support of the governor and we are supporting him to finish his administration which he started with our brother. It is the will of our brother to ensure that they both complete their term in office by 2028 .
In that case, I can rightly summarise that the decision of the Ofoni people to leave en masse to join the governor in the APC was in keeping with the desire of the former deputy governor?
It will not be out of place to put it that way because the signs and revelations were clear. They were both having cordial relationship in terms of administration before he unfortunately passed and he didn’t also mention to us that he was having issue with his principal.
