Bayelsa Guber: Jonathan Reportedly Dumps Dickson, Secretly Funds Alaibe’s Campaign • The Tompolo Connection

Less than two weeks after him and his wife openly endorsed the re-election bid of Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, indications emerged that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan may have tactically dumped his party’s flag bearer in the December 5 governorship poll.

According to Daily Sun, a bid to remain politically relevant and not put all his eggs in one basket, informed Jonathan and his wife’s decision to secretly funnel funds and necessary support to former Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) boss, Timi Alaibe, who is one of the 18 aspirants on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).

The APC governorship primary comes up today in Yenagoa.

The newspaper reports that the ex-president fears that Dickson may be uncontrollable and that his re-election may spell doom for the former first family’s quest to, at least, control the politics of the state.

The former first lady, it was learnt, is particularly angry that Dickson may not also dance to their tune, hence the support for Alaibe, who is widely believed to have the disposition to play ball.

It would be recalled that prior to Jonathan’s defeat in the 2015 presidential elections, the former First Lady, Dame Patience, had not hidden her desire to send the incumbent packing from Government House.

So evident was the cold war between Mrs. Jonathan and Gov. Dickson that the latter had to sack loyalists of the former first lady from his cabinet.

The newspaper further revealed that the truce was brokered by ex-militant leader and one of the major beneficiaries of the Jonathan government, Government Ekpemupolo popularly called Tompolo.

He was said to have held a lengthy meeting with the former president and his wife at their Otuoke country home last week before facilitating the meeting them and Alaibe this last Sunday.

It was gathered that at the meeting, the ex-militant leader laid out the strategic issues of the forthcoming election and the need to protect Jonathan’s interest in case the APC wins. He said that as such, the idea of having a Plan B, which will hedge against possible persecution and loss of political relevance, was tabled.

In return, the former president would Alaibe, an ally of Tompolo and long standing business partner.

How this support from the ex-president for the former NDDC boss would translate to victory at the APC primaries today, is yet to be seen.

But to underscore his seriousness, Daily Sun reported that Jonathan donated an undisclosed whopping amount of money as his own contribution towards the funding of Alaibe’s aspiration, to clinch the governorship ticket of his party.

The newspaper, which cited its source as a major stakeholder in Bayelsa PDP, claimed that the ex-president had earlier expressed fears of persecution should APC take over the state.

But with the recent meeting facilitated by Tompolo, those fears have been allayed as Alaibe has agreed to work with Jonathan, assuring all parties to the arrangement that upon his possible emergence as governor in February next year, he will respect Dame Patience, protect the ex-president’s interest and even go a step further to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari not to witch hunt him.

“That is the nature of politics. There’s no permanent enemy but permanent interest. What is unfolding is baffling but it is true Jonathan is hobnobbing with Alaibe for strategic political reasons. I can tell you categorically that Tomoplo as the go-between had a meeting with him and his wife and Alaibe in Otuoke and all the issues were well discussed. It does not mean he has totally abandoned Dickson but based on the pressure from Tompolo, he wants to have a Plan B and it should interest you that he actually donated some dollars to fund Alaibe’s campaign to get the ticket. That’s the situation but let’s wait and see”, the source said.

Meanwhile, it was also gathered that as part of his deft moves to clinch the APC governorship ticket, Alaibe has temporarily stopped fraternizing with Senate President Bukola Saraki, for fear of incurring the Presidency and national leadership of the APC’s wrath.

The embattled Senate president is believed to be a strong pillar behind Alaibe’s aspiration to govern the oil-rich Niger Delta State.