Bayelsa Guber: Why I was sacked by Dickson – Helen Bob

Hon. Helen Bob is a stakeholder in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State. A former chairman of Brass Local Government Area of the state, she was an aspirant for the House of Representatives in the 2019 National Assembly election. Bob also served as the Deputy Director of Women Mobilisation for Dickson campaign organisation in 2015. Until her recent dismissal, she was the Special Adviser on Talent Development and Gender Promotion to Gov. Seriake Dickson. In this interview with MBAH OKEMSINACHI, Hon. Bob talks about why she was sacked from the restoration government as well as the abuse, mismanagement, imposition of candidates and the current defections rocking the PDP in Bayelsa State.

***You have been part of Dickson administration right from inception of his restoration government and just few weeks after the PDP governorship primaries, it seems your relationship with the governor has gone sour. What went wrong?

Well, as a person, am just an individual and every individual has the right to express his or her opinion. I knew there are certain happenings within the party that I never liked and as a human being; I reacted to these issues frankly, and I take responsibility for all my actions because failure is what nobody wants to identify with when it comes to party politics especially when you are going to be contesting with the opposition party. So I stood my ground to make these comments and why I did so was because I knew that’s the fastest means of getting to him or getting information across to him which he got.

Because if he never got these information maybe this wonderful dismissal or this world announced dismissal wouldn’t have probably taken place. But I took all in good faith. So, he got the message clearly and instead of looking into the matters or probably even calling me to order if I was misbehaving, he said dismissal without any form of contact. I took it in good faith. There is no problem about that. But you see, the party has set up a reconciliation committee. Would you set up a reconciliation committee without having crisis in the party? I hope not, because there must have been an identified problem within the party that is why the party leadership decided to set up a reconciliation committee.

My question is, must you always deliberately hurt people or play with people’s emotions then suddenly because the general election is coming, this is party structure, this is party politics, let us come together and begin to form…No! Sometimes, people will say no to you because you don’t use people. It’s like eating your cake and having it back. So, a lot of people are not too comfortable with that and I think this time around, this aspect of it is causing the party a fortune. Because if a member of the party has said no because of the wrongs at some point in time that was perpetrated, he has taking the party to court and he is determined to get to the end of it, then you should know what it means. Then you should know the implication of that. Then you should know that there is a potent danger ahead. But if we have listened to one another, those issues that were raised, I don’t think we should be talking about reconciliation now.

Meaning those points that were raised are facts. Now you have set up a reconciliation committee, how much can they reconcile for the party between now and the general election? That is a question left for everybody.

**Can you please throw more light on some of the wrongs happening within the party and also those points you raised?

The first was the imposition of candidates in the party. It happened to me directly when I contested for the House of Representatives seat under the party. The party leadership came all out to tell us that there will be a level playing ground for all. Those who are interested should go and pray, consult stakeholders very well and it will go well. And we bought the form, we consulted and we prayed. Me personally, I consulted the governor four times and he said go ahead. The eve to the primaries, news came and said the governor has anointed one of us. What? If it were you, how will you feel? Am a human being. So the same governor I was consulting, himself has anointed somebody and the worst part of it he said those who have left the party, who now for some reason came back should queue behind. And this very person you are adopting is someone who actually had issues with you one on one, went to all the media houses and said PDP must not field him the second time because he will not win election. That he is high handed, he is arrogant, he is wicked, he is greedy and some of us said no, he will win.

I was even made the deputy director on women mobilisation of his second tenure campaign organisation which is the restoration campaign organisation. I worked, went to national televisions to defend him and the party that yes let’s give him a chance. Maybe eight years will change the narrative. Yes I did that with Hon. Jonathan Obuebite. We went there and did that. I didn’t insult anyone. But today, the same people came for the party primaries and messed it up. You can imagine the party, you see that same person with two booklets writing somebody’s name and throwing it into the ballot box in our presence. Then you said you have done what? Me, I am aggrieved and I demonstrated my grievance there. I told them look, you have done it, don’t do it in the future because some persons will not take it. For me, let them give me back my party form purchase money and even that of the party levy. They should give me back because they are owing me. What they did is very wrong.

The same imposition went to senate, some house of assembly seats and what happened. They lost four assembly seats at the end of the day. We lost two house of reps seats, we lost one senatorial seat. It is only when the restoration government came to take over power from the PDP that we started losing elections like this. The local government chairman poll was sad. Only one form was given to the one that was anointed. So there was not even the opportunity of saying that they sold forms. So please, you sold those forms so give us our money back, otherwise that is stealing by tricks. When they set up the reconciliation committee then we told them that nothing of such was implemented. It came to councilors. Councilors waere far better because there was stakeholders meeting in all the wards. In my ward, we had a meeting and came up with two names; we finally settled for one. So that is consensus. But it was not like that in the chairmanship. At first some concerned persons were not even existing in the party even within the restoration family. That is annoying.

Now they saw the signs within the party governorship primaries. We also saw that some prominent members of the party protested that the congresses that could have brought the three delegates per ward was not properly conducted. It didn’t follow the due process. For me I was prepared to go to my ward. Usually when we take materials, we move down together. We finish, whoever have won has won. We come back. But immediately they took the material, they ran and all of us just let them be. They came back and said that’s the result. Nobody fought, you understand. Now, those things put together was done in favor of one candidate and if the other candidates don’t get those things, they won’t talk but when we get to the final process, they can get back at you. That shows that the chairmen and the councilors and the vice chairmen shouldn’t have been part of the primaries. But the same national accepted the whole thing and just allowed them to be delegates. So for me, if somebody was anointed candidate and a lot was done in his favor and at the end I saw what he scored and I also saw the second score. I look at the margin and I put some factors, I felt that person is more needed than the first candidate and I openly came all out to make my analysis that they should take good opportunity of item seventeen on the INEC timetable which talks about substitution. He should substitute the best candidate for us.

Though the election will be tough, but we are hopeful. I said it. Another one I said was you know they said the governor is calling for a stakeholders meeting to talk about substitution and for me I said no need to call the people. You are the master, very intelligent master, it is his decision, so let him take his decision that will be beneficial to the party. If he chose to hand over to another governor from the PDP platform, he would have written his name in gold. But if he doesn’t, that means he would be creating a bad record for himself that after eight years, you are leaving the place scattered and that will not be too much of a good history.

Though remember that we lost these number of seats in the Assembly, one in the Senate based on this imposition style. I wish that we will learn from that and take the best decision. However, me I have advised; am still your appointee. If because I said this thing that am relieved of my appointment, I will gladly thank his Excellency and I will go. And a week later, actually the sack came. So for me, I want to thank God for everything. PDP is a party I loved, worked for, worked even against people I ought not to in the time past and even when you come to social media, am one woman who will always come up to quarrel, to laugh, to comment for the party and in favor of PDP. I just want to thank God that this whole thing happened. At least I understand life better. I understand politics better. There is a pain and this pain taught me better lessons that I am possibly equipped and in good position to tell others to be mindful. And the lesson I have learnt is that no amount of your good relationship worth your commitment; you can call it a temporary commitment to a party. Your good relationship remains the ultimate. Your blood relationship remains the ultimate. Let not your temporary commitment to a party make you to severe your relationships. It doesn’t worth it.

**During the PDP governorship primaries, you supported another candidate different from that of the restoration candidate. Don’t you think that has something to do with the sack?

Well, as a party member, I have every right to support any aspirant of my choice. Nobody can fine tune my decision of who to support. No. I am an adult. You can do that maybe to the incoming politicians, not me. You understand. So, I wouldn’t want to relate it to that, that because I supported one of us, that is also contributing to that. If that is their own, I don’t understand. For me, I wouldn’t want to link my sack to that kind of petty issue that because I supported….Who did I even support? I supported Fred Agbedi. He is a two-time director general of the restoration government and also the party returning agent at the collation during the election. So if I happen to support that person and you said they are sacking me, that is their business. Honestly, I really don’t want to see it as that.

***From your analysis, how would you describe the leadership of PDP in the state?

I want to say that they are too harsh in their decision of my sack. Perhaps they thought I have gone to APC already which I never did. Perhaps they taught I was going to resign after this which will paint the government in a bad light which I didn’t. I am one single person who has an ideology of remaining in the party to fight those odds within the party. That does not stand as anti-party. I am in the party and I have to speak out my mind rather than defecting to another party and say I condemn this one and go. No. I remain and I spoke and even in all my analysis and expressions and all that, nobody called me one day to say this is this you said. What is it for? So for me, PDP does not have a good reward system. Unfortunately, most of our reward stays on our relationship, family, friendship. So it has weakened the zeal of several. Those who probably where reconciled back to the party and instantly were given back their positions and others have been waiting. It weakens these people. More people are aggrieved, they can’t reconcile them. Those who bought forms for the house of assembly over hundred people, I know twenty something got it and you know there was no primaries in some of these places. It was this hand picking thing. You think those people are happy? Where did they get the money from? It could be that they borrowed it to buy, yet they were not compensated of the fact that they allowed that person to go. Otherwise they could have gone to court to do what every other person is doing today which they chose not to. That show they are good party faithfuls, but they took their faithfulness for granted. That is what I see. So our reward system is poor. They don’t know how to reconcile people and reintegrate them back into the system.

**What are your expectations come November 16?

I think for the first time Bayelsans will come out enmass to vote who they want. It is not going to be marred with too much violence as people are thinking, because the gale of defection is giving us the direction. If the defection are on both sides, we would be having a serious clash. But since all those who are leaving are all moving to another party not other parties, then it shows that the fight will not be as much as we think. It will be an easy one because if everyone that has gone there went there to vote, where will the violence come from? It is only when those who have gone have gone to say this man attacked me and I attacked him back. But if everyone carried their PVC happily and say let me go and cast my vote, then am sure we will not have a problem. So, I am expecting a good turn out and am also expecting a peaceful general election.