By Owei David

The pioneer leader of the Progressive Movement in Bayelsa state, Hon. Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, has lauded governor Douye Diri for convening the All Progressives Congress ( APC) stakeholders meeting which he said has brought together all shades of politicians under the Party’s extraction in Bayelsa state .

The meeting , he noted , has further unified the state APC ahead of the 2027 elections for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The governor’s gesture , according to him, has further showed that he’s a Renewed Hope Prosperity Governor.

Prince Amgbare who spoke to Journalists shortly after the stakeholders meeting convened by governor Diri in yenagoa last Monday noted that the governor ‘s decamp to the APC has unified the hitherto divided party in the state .

Describing the defection of governor Diri to the APC as a great blessing to the party ,Hon Prince Amgbare who was also the Chairman , “Bayelsa state APC Reconciliation Committee” said the governor has unified all aggrieved persons as seen from the stakeholders meeting .

“The coming of Governor Diri to APC is a blessing “, noted Prince Amgbare, adding that governor Diri’s leadership of the party will take APC to enviable heights.

” I have always said this One thing is for the right Governor to come to your party , another thing is for a wrong Governor to come to your party . When the wrong Governor comes to.your party , is crisis ,trouble . But when the right Governor decamp or defect to your party you know that he has come to help your party .

Likening the governor’s defection to the party to that of the famous footballer , Ronaldo , Prince Amgbare who is also a renowned soccer star of his days noted thus: “It’s just like signing Ronaldo in a club that needs an attacker .So when a Ronaldo come to your team , especially a Ronaldo in his hey days you are sure that you have an attacker that will give you 40 goals in a season .So this governor has come in that form of a Ronaldo in his hey days . So we are going to get goals””

He said with the peace process put in place by governor Diri the APC was now ready to deliver the presidential elections come 2027 in Bayelsa state.

“Let me commend the Renewed Hope Prosperity Governor of Bayelsa state, 001 APC Bayelsa for convening this meeting .

“For the first time we come together in our numbers, all the key players, key politicians from Bayelsa state under the APC from both divides, came together .

“”It was more or less Bayelsa United for Asiwaju and for APC
” I must commend the Governor . Of course that is his lifestyle . We have found out that he’s a man of peace , he like to promote unity, and ofcourse as a prosperity governor, he has created that room for people to prosper and Unity is a key factor .

“Where there is no unity there can’t be progress and when there is no unity prosperity can never be assured . And so we thank him for doing that”, noted Amgbare who is also the Managing Director Chief Executive Officer, Niger Delta Basin Development Authority.

“For now we are all working principally for BAT. I was the chairman of the state APC reconciliation Committee i hit the brick wall trying to get some major stakeholders to come on board but at the meeting, I was glad to see all of us there .

“The same chairman that some of us refuse to recognise as chairman when it was time for the Governor to call the chairman of the party to address us he was the same chairman that addressed us .

“So we are all in agreement, those that had grievances aired them there . Thanks to the maturity of the Governor” he added

Further commending governor Diri for brazing through the odds faced by the APC in the state , Hon. Prince Amgbare noted that himself as the pioneer leader of Action Congress (AC) and later Action Congress of Nigeria ( ACN) in the state, he’s aware of the challenges involved in nurturing a political party, and commended the governor for first bringing together all members of the party to start the process of galvanisation and mobilisation.

“”For me as the leader of the progressive movement in Bayelsa state I know what it means to nurture a political party in Bayelsa state . This is the first thing to do if you must nurture a political party that will become a political war machine . That’s the way to start , you must bring people together ,you must assure people that you are ready to provide leadership . I remember I started the Action Congress in Bayelsa state . I was the leader of the AC in Bayelsa state , as a matter of fact, the Broom Revolution in Bayelsa state . I later became the governorship candidate of the party and I was the leader of the AC until we moved to the ACN and.later it became the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“So I know what it means to organise a party . This is the way to go . So I thank him”

Highlighting the E- registration exercise which is aimed at knowing the proper number of APC faithfuls in the state Hon.Prince Amgbare stated that the exercise would also remind party members that as politicians “number” is key because politics is a game of numbers .

He said “E- registration captures only human beings that are alive you can’t use a shadow for e-registration .If it is manual you can capture every name”.

Recalling the 2007 rerun election where inaccurate registration led to annulment of the election which he was a governorship candidate, Prince Amgbare noted that one of the grounds that led to the annulment of that election between AC and PDP then, was because there were fictitious names in the register.

” We were able to proof that even the foundation of the results was faulty because there were fictitious names

” So what APC is doing today is to have register of people so that , for instance , tomorrow, if APC says it has one million people in the Bayelsa state APC , you can point to the People , because it happened in the last elections too.

In some states APC boosted that we have 100million members but when it was time for elections our results did not show that we had 100million members .

“So this is what we want to achieve now , we want to ensure that when we say we have 100million members , we want to be sure that is the number . Even if all of us do not turn out ,or even if we loss some people before then , the number will not be too far from the 100million or can be verified” he added.

He said the governor, as the leader of the Party in the state , has concluded arrangements with ICT team from APC headquarters in Abuja to train the trainers who would also spread the training programme to the grassroots .

“Thanks to the Governor, thanks to the 001 Bayelsa . He brought the trainers , the ICT team from head quarters to train the trainers who will in turn train the down liners and take the exercise to the grass roots .

“When we get to that phase we will make the link available to the public so that from the comfort of your room you can also register to make the exercise seamless , and we will also embark on strong grassroots mobilisation ….. I have started already as from that meeting I went down to meet with key stake holders who will in turn mobilise the grassroots, this is our own census we will work hard to achieve it “.

As a progressive party , Prince Amgbare commended further governor Diri for his progressive approach to the party’s affairs by convening the stakeholders’ meeting and advised on the need to temporarily drop their political ambitions for now to ensure a seamless building process

“”We pride ourselves as progressives so we must do things differently . That’s why he (Diri ) even said drop all your ambitions for now . This is the building process , when it is time for elections feel free to come out and declare your intentions. But don’t frustrate the system because of your personal.ambition

” This has been the problem in the past congresses are not transparent , one man seats in his house and write the names in the comfort of his bed room.Such a party can never be transparent .

“So The governor is telling every one that the only election that we are all in agreement to execute in Bayelsa state is that of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu . As I said earlier Bayelsa United for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.(BUPBAT) , and also United for APC. And so when we go through the process and eventually candidates begin to emerge , this same unity , this same united force is what will deliver our candidates in the next elections.