In the intricate web of Bayelsa State’s politics, an unspoken yet ironclad rule has long shaped the path to power: the rotation of the governorship across its three senatorial districts—Bayelsa East, Central, and West.
This principle isn’t just a nicety; it’s the bedrock of fairness, designed to prevent any one area from hogging the spotlight in Yenagoa’s Government House while ensuring every corner of the state feels included. Ignore it, and you brew resentment; honor it, and you foster harmony in a state where unity is as vital as the oil flowing beneath its soil.
Let’s crunch the numbers since Bayelsa’s birth in 1996, focusing on the democratic era:
– Bayelsa East: Produced Goodluck Jonathan (Deputy Governor 1999–2005, Governor 2005–2007) and Timipre Sylva (2007–2012) → Two governors.
– Bayelsa Central: Gave us Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (1999–2005) and the current incumbent, Douye Diri (2020–present, now in his second term) → **Two governors**.
– Bayelsa West: Only Henry Seriake Dickson (2012–2020) → **Just one governor.
The imbalance is stark. East and Central have each enjoyed two shots at leadership, while West lags with a single tenure. By the time-honored logic of rotation and equity that Bayelsans have championed, the governorship baton must pass to Bayelsa West next. Any deviation would smack of intentional sidelining—a violation of the informal accord that’s kept the state from fracturing along district lines.
Zooming in on Bayelsa West, the district’s two key Local Government Areas (LGAs)—Sagbama and Ekeremor—have historically shared opportunities in the name of balance. Sagbama delivered Dickson for a solid eight years.
But Ekeremor?
Despite its substantial size, dense population, and outsized role in fueling the state’s oil economy, it has never seated a governor. Its highest claim remains the deputy governorship under Right Honourable Peremobowei Ebebi (2005–2007, serving with Jonathan and Sylva).
In nearly three decades of statehood, that’s the sum total of Ekeremor’s top-tier influence—a footnote in Bayelsa’s power ledger.
Critics who dismiss rotation now are often the loudest cheerleaders for the “Bayelsa Charter of Equity” when it favored their own turf. Hypocrisy much? You can’t embrace zoning to install your kin and then trash it when the wheel turns. That’s not savvy politics; it’s naked self-interest.
Bayelsans—and the broader Ijaw community—are paying close attention. If equity and this unwritten rotational glue still mean anything, the next ticket goes to Bayelsa West, and specifically to Ekeremor.
Handpicking a West candidate from elsewhere would double the injustice: robbing the district of its due while shortchanging the LGA that’s waited patiently in the wings.
In a state built on shared prosperity, let’s not let greed erode the foundations of fairness.