Bayelsa PDP adopts Tinubu as Rainbow Coalition candidate, backs Wike
- The Bayelsa State chapter of the PDP has adopted President Bola Tinubu as the National Rainbow Coalition's candidate.
- The meeting also passed a vote of confidence in FCT Minister Nyesom Wike as coalition leader.
- State PDP chairman George Turnah criticised the Diri government over spending, healthcare and farming support.
The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has formally adopted President Bola Tinubu as the candidate of the National Rainbow Coalition in the state.
The adoption followed the presentation of a memo at a joint meeting of the party's expanded State Caucus and its 100th State Executive Committee meeting at the state secretariat in Yenagoa, according to The Sun and ThisDay.
The same meeting ratified a memo passing a vote of confidence in the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, described as national leader of the Rainbow Coalition, for his leadership in rescuing and preserving the PDP as an opposition party.
George Alabh Turnah, chairman of the PDP in Bayelsa and leader of the coalition in the state, thanked members for remaining resolute in their support. He said Wike allowed God to use him to save the party from those he said wanted to bury it.
Attacks on Diri government
Turnah criticised the state government over the economy, saying it had failed to deliver on its promise of prosperity for Bayelsans.
He said primary healthcare centres lack drugs and medical personnel, and that farmers are suffering with no support. According to him, fish ponds set up by the previous administration of Henry Seriake Dickson have been abandoned.
He also criticised the Bayelsa Stadium project, saying the Diri administration should focus instead on unemployment, poverty and social services.
On spending, Turnah said the government has refused to make public what it spent on projects. He demanded that it publish in naira and kobo the cost of the state's 30th anniversary celebration, which he said was not in the state appropriation bill and was spent outside the budget. He called the state House of Assembly a rubber stamp rather than a body performing its oversight function.
He urged voters to support Rainbow Coalition candidates in the coming elections, saying the coalition has presented credible and competent candidates.
The sources did not carry any response from the Bayelsa State Government or the House of Assembly to the allegations.
What happens next
The adoption is a decision by the Bayelsa PDP chapter and does not by itself change the national party's position. How the national leadership and the state government respond will shape the contest ahead of the 2027 elections.
