Why I can’t leave PDP after losing gov’ship primaries – Aspirant

A governorship aspirant in the just concluded primary of PDP in Bayelsa State, Mr Keniebi Okoko, has pledged to work with the party to ensure the victory of Senator Douye Diri in the November 16, 2019 governorship election of the state. Okoko said he would work for the interest of the people of the state, […]

A governorship aspirant in the just concluded primary of PDP in Bayelsa State, Mr Keniebi Okoko, has pledged to work with the party to ensure the victory of Senator Douye Diri in the November 16, 2019 governorship election of the state.

Okoko said he would work for the interest of the people of the state, adding that incessant defection from one political party to another by Nigerian politicians was bad for the country’s nascent democracy.

Okoko, businessman and philanthropist who came third during the primaries that had 21 contestants, told journalists during an interview in Yenagoa, yesterday, that Nigerian politicians as well as their followers must begin to play value-based politics, because destroying a political platform because an aspirant lost an election was not in the best interest of the state.

The PDP chieftain also advised both party loyalists and other major stakeholders who are threatening to leave the party because the primaries did not favour a particular aspirant, to have a rethink in the interest of the people and deepening democracy in the state.

He argued that some of the best democracies in the world were not built by politicians who moved across parties.

Okoko noted that if elders who should be examples to young persons who are interested in politics, would move around four parties in four months, then the hope of a value-based party system would be lost forever.