I'd have relocated my mother to Abuja if PDP had lost in Bayelsa - Jonathan

Jonatha, a former governor of Bayelsa State, said this during his congratulatory visit to Diri in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Friday, November 17, 2023.

Diri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, had emerged the winner of the November 11, 2023, governorship election in Bayelsa State after warding off competition from his closest challenger and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Timipre Sylva.

Meanwhile, the former President said the governor's victory at the poll assured him that the gains made in curbing insecurity in Bayelsa would not be eroded.

“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.

He stressed that the incumbent has managed to record significant achievements in the area of security since he came on board, especially in taming kidnapping and cultism.

“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,” Jonathan revealed.

The former President, who recounted how his cousin was kidnapped and killed, expressed optimism that with Diri's re-election, the situation would soon be 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.

“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,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had handed Diri and his Deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpor, their certificates of return for a second term in office.