Ahead of the party congresses of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Bayelsa State, a Chieftain of the party in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Hon Joseph Maciver has expressed strong concerns about a possible highjack and manipulations of the process leading up to the ward congresses.
Maciver has therefore called on the Governor and Leader of the party in the state, Senator Douye Diri, to take a second look at cases of complaints emanating from the stakeholders’ meetings.
Hon. Joseph Maciver, popularly known as Mayor 1 of the Niger Delta, who made the call in a statement issued on Sunday, February 15, 2025, said the confusion being witnessed in some parts of the state, particularly in Ward 4 of Southern Ijaw LGA, is being caused by the personal political ambitions of those appointed into the various committees to oversee the ward and local government area congresses.
Noting that all the appointed committee members had their political ambitions which could influence the process, as well as the outcome of the congresses, Maciver said such persons should not have been allowed, in the first place, to decide the fate of the general members.
He said even before the appointment of the committee members, by Governor Douye Diri, APC members, especially the old members, have been clamoring for a stakeholders meeting for the upcoming party congresses but their pleas fell to deaf ears.
Continuing, Maciver, who noted that in some local government areas no stakeholders meetings were held ahead of the congresses, said reliable intelligence reports across the state confirmed the same incidents in some local government councils.
He also said the ongoing cases of complaints, possible hijack and manipulations are against the peace and unity being sought by Gov. Douye Diri, pointing out that if the Governor wants to unite the party in the state he should be careful with those he introduces to the system, most especially in the recent committee appointments.
It will be recalled that the Governor had, on Thursday last week, while inaugurating the local government committees to oversee the congresses, implored members to shelve personal political ambitions for now and focus on President Bola Tinubu’s second term re-election bid in 2027.
