Bayelsa guber: I’m optimistic of PDP ticket, says Alaibe

Former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe, on Thursday, said he was optimistic of securing the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to contest the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State.

Alaibe said he would not leave the PDP again even if he failed to get the ticket at the September governorship primaries of the party.

Speaking when he visited the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Yenagoa, Alaibe said that he defected in the past following the exigencies of that period.

Unveiling his plans for the state, Alaibe promised to tackle insecurity by providing jobs for the youths and rehabilitating persons involved in drugs and cultism.

He said: “I have spoken severally on it (defection) and I hope you read it up. There is not going to be any crisscrossing again, the exigencies caused that at the time. You can look for the grammar to support that.

“You saw me take the forms, you will soon see me submit them and we are running under the PDP. We will unveil very shortly our programmes and the details of our strategic plan for Bayelsa state”.

Alaibe decried the abduction of the mother of a former Nigerian coach, Samson Siasia, saying it was an indication that all was not well with Bayelsa.

He said: “If we do not address the violence perpetrated by some youths, no company will come to invest here. Only a few days ago, the mother of our former coach, world class player of yore, was kidnapped for the second time.

“What does that tell you? It tells you that we need to address that sector. It’s not good news and it’s hoisted in the international space in the analysis of the risk of doing business in the state.

“We need to re-image our state and rebrand our state. These people doing these things are our children. So, we are going to be a government that is responsible. We will enumerate our youths and know what they are doing.

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“We are not more than two million people. One laptop can enumerate all of us. It’s not rocket science. If you are still into tramadol, we will address it.

“These things hurt the average parent. We have done this kind of thing before. We will disarm, demobilise, rehabilitate and reintegrate them into the society.

” I am passionate about this. They say they own the street. We need to address it. In the first six months, I will resolve that matter” he pledged.

He lauded Governor Seriake Dickson for his infrastructural strides in the state and promised to complete ongoing projects if elected.

“In terms of infrastructure, governor Dickson has invested in some critical projects, let’s not make any mistake about that. He’s still doing some. He won’t complete some. We will complete them and we will address the core issue of the economy. That’s my strength”, he added.