Former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Udengs Eradiri, has cautioned Douye Diri against making statements capable of creating confusion over the zoning of the governorship position in Bayelsa State.
Eradiri, a former Governorship Candidate in Bayelsa, said the governor’s alleged comment that the next governor could emerge from either the Eastern Senatorial District or the West might trigger political tension in the state.
Speaking on the zoning arrangement, the former Commissioner for Youths and later Environment in Bayelsa, insisted that the governorship should naturally rotate to the Eastern Senatorial District in line with the established political understanding in the state.
He noted that the Central Senatorial District currently occupies the governorship seat through Governor Diri, while the West had earlier produced a governor, who served for eight years.
According to him, although the East had produced two governors in the past, the district had not collectively completed eight years in office, making it the rightful zone to produce the next governor.
Eradiri, who said he is from the Central Senatorial District, questioned the rationale behind including the West in the succession debate.
He noted that proponents of the West often rely on the local government argument, adding that if zoning was to be considered from that perspective, Yenagoa should have a stronger claim as the host of the state capital.
He lamented that Yenagoa had not received the level of political recognition and development it deserved because it had yet to produce a governor since the creation of the state.
The former IYC leader said most political stakeholders had accepted that power should shift to the East, warning that reopening the debate could lead to unnecessary political tension.
He said: “The West has produced the governor for eight years and the deputy governor for another eight years. So it is naturally the East that the pendulum is swinging to.
“So, when the governor, who is our political leader, begins to sit in the middle, then it becomes a recipe for chaos.”
He warned that comments from Governor Diri, whom he described as the political leader of the state, would be taken seriously given the already tense political atmosphere in Bayelsa.
Eradiri added that if the zoning arrangement was altered, some politicians who had earlier aligned with the East’s turn might begin to reconsider their positions and aspirations ahead of the next governorship election.
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