I won’t be heading for Supreme Court. - 25th July 2024

I will not challenge the Court of Appeal judgement that threw out my case against the victory of the state Governor, Douye Diri and his Deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Though I am not satisfied with both the decisions of the tribunal and the appeal court, I would not be heading for the Supreme Court to challenge it.

I have decided to let go of the matter in the interest of peace and stability of the state while waiting for another time to test my popularity at the poll again.

I thank all my  supporters for believing in me and I appeal to them to keep faith in me and the state.

I  ventured into the election and later embarked on the judicial journey to prove that nothing could stop the youths in the state from aspiring for leadership and challenging the underdevelopment of Bayelsa.

My resolve to evolve an upward moving and development-oriented Bayelsa and to remove the state from stagnation and high poverty index were the reasons I challenged the system.

I would continue to challenge leadership incompetence in the state and urge like-minded persons in Bayelsa to join me in the quest of wresting power from crooked and selfish politicians.

I am happy that I challenged this rot in the system. I am glad I confronted lack of basic amenities, high poverty index, lack of infrastructures and inept leadership foisted on us by self-centered politicians despite our huge resources and natural endowments.

“I will continue to challenge this incompetence that had seen Bayelsa being raped and bled to death.

Our people cannot have these bountiful resources and natural endowments and be dying of poverty.

“It is true that I tried but could not get it. I won’t stop. I will keep trying until our generation takes leadership.

There must be a paradigm shift from kleptocracy to developmental and people-oriented leadership. Bayelsa is too blessed to be where it is today.

“I thank my supporters for standing by me and sharing my visions for a better state. Don’t give up. Let’s keep working because victory belongs to those who do not abandon their vision”.

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Press Release on the November 11th Governorship Election

I, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, the Governorship Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), hereby reject the processes and the results of the just-concluded Bayelsa State Governorship election that produced the Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the state Governor, Douye Diri, as the winner.

The election was held against the cardinal principles, laid-down procedures and ground rules that democratic elections to offices especially that of the governor of a state must be free, fair, credible and peaceful.

The election of Saturday, November 11, was marred by massive and mind-blowing vote-buying. We were shocked that the state government converted all the polling units to market squares and business centres where votes were auctioned, haggled over, bargained for and purchased. The state government emptied our vault and carelessly deployed billions of our commonwealth to induce and compromise voters.

Our state resources, which unconfirmed sources put at over N80bn were used to intimidate our traumatized people, who have been impoverished by this government. The government of Douye Diri deliberately weaponised poverty and forced the people to sell their consciences for money at the poll.

I consider vote-buying a crime against humanity. I cannot engage in vote-buying because it is a demonstration of lack of performance, unpopularity, incompetence, leadership failure and  cluelessness on the part of the buyer. How can you bribe people to serve them?

I am not surprised that this government resorted to vote-buying because I have always emphasised its incompetence. I am only shocked at the level it took the malfeasance to. This government bought each vote as much as N70,000 in some places. The state government has added another record to its bag of incompetent achievements making the November 11 Bayelsa election the most monetized poll in the history of the country.

I contested this election to prove a point that this incompetence in Bayelsa can be challenged. I contested this election to solve the problems of lack potable water, dearth of infrastructures, ravaging poverty and  rot in the educational sector. I contested this election to take our girls and boys out of the streets; to reverse the poor economic indices that have made our rich-Bayelsa the second poorest state in multidimensional poverty after Zamfara. I contested because I have the capacity, the experience, ideas and the courage to deliver good governance to our people.

I wept when I saw the condition of our people, the naked squalor they live amidst plenty as I campaigned round the communities and held town hall meetings  to solicit their votes. I was touched by the spontaneous show of love they gave me at their homes and villages. Without any mobilisation, they all trooped out to identify with me. I know they were intimidated when they saw the kind of money they had never seen before at their polling units.

The process adopted at the polling units  encouraged buying and selling of votes. It made it difficult for voters to even collect their money and still vote their conscience. Each polling unit was clustered by agents of the government, who gave voters tags, ensured they turned their ballot papers to show the thumb-printed party, compelled them to write their names before paying them.

Officials of INEC and security agencies at the polling units were all compromised to look the other way. They were all bought over  to do the biddings of the government and its party, the PDP.

I have no regrets. I am happy I ran for this election because it afforded me the opportunity to go round all the creeks, hamlets, communities to see the suffering of our people and the endemic poverty ravaging them. It allowed me to further appreciate the beauty, untapped potential and wealth of my state. It gave me many ideas of what should be done to elevate Bayelsa and emancipate our people from the shackles of poverty. 

I thank the people of Bayelsa for their support and commend those, who defied the intimidation and rejected  inducements to vote for me. They are the real heroes of this election and their votes are the authentic and valid vote cast.

I wonder why INEC cannot enforce its rules to ensure credible elections in the country. There was  intimidation and harassment of voters, violence, bypass of BVAS among other irregularities, which have vitiated whatever results they announced at the collation centre.

I call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe all electoral officers that participated in the election. Most of them are the reasons for the rampart voter inducement in our  country's election.  The commission should investigate the massive monetary inducements that occurred in the Bayelsa election.

I want to assure our people that I won't give up. I will continue to challenge this system until Bayelsa is rescued from poverty, underdevelopment, darkness and other leadership ills.

But it is time we stopped the monetisation of elections and inducement of voters. You can't bribe your way to power and claim to have the mandate of the people. A new system must be set up to tackle this money for vote syndrome in our electoral system.

I and my team are studying the results and brainstorming on the next line of action.

Thank you.

 

Engr. Udengs Eradiri

Bayelsa State Candidate of the Labour Party

- A Better Alternative

Our journey has been remarkable. From our first community engagement to town hall meetings and the campaign trail, your support has fueled our mission for a brighter future. To our dear supporters and believers of a new Bayelsa, your dedication strengthens our resolve to bring positive change to our beloved Bayelsa. Let's continue this path towards transparency and progress. We're not just a campaign; we're a movement. Thank you for standing with us in this endeavor. Follow up with our engagement & campaigns >>