Front line governorship aspirant in Bayelsa State, Mr Timi Alaibe has restated his resolve to use his experience and bring shared economic prosperity to Bayelsa State if elected as the next governor of the state.
Alaibe made the disclosure on Friday at the Headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Abuja when he returned his governorship nomination and expression of interests forms.
The aspirant, who was a former Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), promised to attract economic prosperity to Baleysans, curb youth restiveness and make Bayelsa the economic hub of the Ijaw nation, while Nigeria will be a major thrust of his administration.
He “Bayelsa state is very strategic to Nigeria. Bayelsa state is supposed to be an economic hub for the people of Ijaw nation and Nigeria and from our experience in the public and private sector, we need to implement a shared economic prosperity since a lot of infrastructure work has been done by the current governor who we adore and we are going to take off from that point when we get in as governor.
“We want to tell our people that we shall face creation of jobs. We have strategy for resolving conflicts and youth restiveness. All what we have done so far in the resolution of youth restiveness in the Niger Delta and the experience and capacity is what we will put on the table to try to deal with the security dynamics in Bayelsa state and provide jobs for our teeming youths and resolve some of their issues.
“We will emphasize on skills development for our teeming youths and ensure that the shared economy that we talked about is something that will energise that growth and propel the economic development of our state”, he said.
Alaibe pointed out that he has a strong leadership skill and experience that will aid him make Bayelsa prosperous.
His words, ‘I have said that I managed 145 local governments in the institution that I worked with, the NDDC. We did strategic plans at the NDDC at a time. Bayelsa state is just 8 local governments. So if I was able to manage the activities of 45 local governments, then you will know that this is something that we can deal with. So that is the experience I am bringing on the table”.
He stressed further that he is a ranking member of the restoration caucus and that he left the group at some time for political expediency and has returned.
In his words, “As you know, politics is dynamic. In the year 2012 or so, when we were campaigning for the current governor to become governor, I was the caucus chairman of his campaign. So there was no time the thing changed. I was also a member of his team. As you know, I moved out but am back again. So I don’t see the division”.
Alaibe stated that the governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson has not officially endorsed any candidate, saying that he was optimistic that if there was any candidate that must be endorsed, then he is the one.
He said, “The governor has never said that he has endorsed anyone. Those of his immediate staff and others who have indicated their interests and even gone as far as collecting forms for this process are all qualified to do so.
“In fact, if anyone is actually looking for endorsement, I should be the one to be endorsed. So there is no story about him endorsing anyone. He has not said that publicly and people should stop carrying these rumours” Alaibe said.
About 21 aspirants picked governorship nomination forms for the November 16 election.
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