‘APC will do things differently in Bayelsa’

Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

 

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Inauguration Committee in Bayelsa State, Chief Samuel Ogbuku, has assured that the party would approach governance differently in the state after the February 14 handover.

Ogbuku insisted that the personality of the incoming Governor, Chief David Lyon, would compel people to adopt new political culture and values especially in the area of deploying and utilizing public resources.

Ogbuku, who said his committee was ready for a hitch-free inauguration, explained that Lyon was materially comfortable before his election and would only think of service delivery and not about stealing the commonwealth.

He said Lyon already acquired wealth, owned assorted vehicles and built comfortable houses in the country and outside and would not be bothered about getting similar properties as a governor.

He said: “APC will do things differently because the personality we have in Chief David Lyon will even force people to do things differently. This is a man that is comfortable before coming to become a governor.

“This is a man that is successful in his own business. So, it is not as if this is when he wants to build his first house or this is when he wants to buy his first car. So what he is coming for is service because there is a difference between when a poor man and a rich man takes over leadership.

“Aristotle said leadership should be for the aristocrats because they values of the poor and the rich are different. The poor man has poverty mentality and such mentality has eating deep into him. So he is greedy in anything he is doing. But the rich have different values.

“Why you are thinking of stealing what the poor are supposed to eat not knowing that the salaries are what they depend on, the rich man is thinking that he is bigger than such things. Why you are thinking of buying a car, the rich man has many of such cars” Why you are thinking of building a house, the rich man has houses in Abuja, Lagos and everywhere.

“So, why will the incoming governor see building of a house as a priority? This is a man that you see that his family has been in UK for many years. That is to say that he has a home there. So, will he be thinking of going to buy another home in UK. He has comfortable houses in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Yenagoa and his village.

“But the man that is going out now, do you know of anything he had before he became a governor? That is why you could see greed. The man that is going out now, the first time he traveled abroad was when he became governor. That is is why you could see greed.

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“So, the values are going to be different. The head directs the tail. The tail only gives power to the head. So if the head has a mind of direction and a mind of his own, you see that the head can direct properly. It is only when the head does not have a mind of his own that you see it can’t direct properly. This is a comfortable man that is coming to serve; a man that had surplus to go into philanthropism. So, why will he want to eat the money of the poor people?”

Ogbuku said the committee saddled with the responsibility to plan the inauguration had not encountered any challenge adding that the programme of events was ready and would soon be rolled out.

He listed the pre and post inauguration events as a church service, press briefing, valedictory executive section at the Government House, performance by the state art and culture, swearing-in ceremony, public lecture and thanksgiving.

Describing the event as historic, he said: “It is historic because this is the first time one party is handing over to another party in Bayelsa State. It has always been intra party. It has never been inter-party before.

“This is the first time we are having inter-party handover. That makes it historic. It is not just because David Lyon won election. It is because on the platform of the APC he won the election.

“PDP will be handing over to APC. Since 1999 PDP has held power in Bayelsa State and for another party to be taking over makes it historic. And that is why everybody wants to come to Bayelsa to become part of the history.”