Former President Goodluck Jonathan commended Governor Douye Diri for addressing insecurity, stating that the governor’s re-election signifies an enhanced safety outlook for Bayelsa State.
Former Governor of the oil-rich state, Jonathan, visited Governor Diri in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, on Friday. This meeting occurred nearly one week after the governor secured victory in a closely contested poll.
In congratulating Diri on his victory, the former president acknowledged that if Douye had lost, the progress achieved in addressing insecurity would have been jeopardized.
“We don’t want to go into unnecessary crisis in the state. Results have been declared and we believe the election was conducted. We believe the governor won the election and we plead that people should accept it and work with the governor. Let all of us support him so that the state will move ahead,” he said during the gathering.
“There should be nothing that will push the state backward. We should think about the development of the state starting from the issue of peace and security in the state which within this last period, three years plus, there are significant improvements in terms of cultism and kidnapping and so on and so forth.
“I was saying before this election that if Diri loses this election, I would have relocated my mother to Abuja.”
Recalling the tragic incident of his cousin’s kidnapping and death, Jonathan shared his optimism that with Diri’s return as the state governor, such situations would soon become a thing of the past.
“My cousin was kidnapped two times on one of those occasions, one of my cousins, Solo, was killed because they threw him into the river and he didn’t know how to swim,” he added.
“So, we’ve passed through hell in this state and we’ve seen a little light at the end of the tunnel. So, people should calm down, and allow Diri to focus on governance so that he will be able to propel this state forward so that we will benefit as citizens of the state.”