We’re Going Ahead With Bayelsa Rally – Turnah

The zonal secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South-South zone, George Turnah, has said his group, NEW Associates, would go ahead with its planned rally in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital, despite a court order to the contrary.

A Bayelsa State High Court, sitting in Yenagoa, had yesterday given the restraining order, stopping the pro-FCT minister, Nyesom Wike group from holding a planned mega rally in the state. The rally is slated for April 12, 2025, in Yenagoa.

“We are going ahead with the rally,” Turnah told reporters in reaction to the court order in Abuja. He said the court order was not targeted on the rally, arguing that the rally has nothing to do with Wike, but a gathering to inaugurate the NEW Associates group and celebrate Bayelsa State indigenes that were appointed into positions of trust by President Bola Tinubu. “Wike is not in our plan to attend the rally. We have not even sent at invitation to him.”

Turnah who is leader of the NEW Associates made the vow in Abuja yesterday during a press conference where he also criticised Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri for accusing him of a plot to cause unrest in the state.

Diri had told a security meeting that the arrow head of the planned rally, Turnah, had been suspended by the PDP and was therefore fighting back by becoming a willing tool in the hands of those plotting against the peace and progress of the state.

In a reaction, he said the governor was simply witch-hunting him over his support for President Tinubu’s re-election.

He said the outburst by Governor Diri were clearly intended “to unjustly pitch me against the people of Bayelsa State and the Ijaw nation at large, placing my life and that of my family in serious jeopardy and security risk.”

He accused Governor Diri of wasting state funds during the 2023 presidential elections to secure vice presidential slot of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

Turnah has raised serious concerns over ‘threats to his life’, following his outspoken defence of rotational presidency and the South’s right to complete an eight-year tenure at the helm of Nigeria’s leadership.

In a message directed to President Tinubu, Turnah pleaded for the safety and wellbeing of his family should any harm befall him as a result of his public stance.

He asked Governor Diri to resign to restore the dignity of the Ijaw Nation by what he called dehumanisation of his Ijaw ethnic group.

He alleged that the Diri knelt before another man to bid for political support. “In the Ijaw nation, the governor of Bayelsa State is traditionally viewed as the Governor General, the political leader, and a unifying figure for the Ijaw people in economic, political, and socio-cultural matters.  How can a leader who embodies the sovereignty and identity of the Ijaw people kneel before another man?

“His actions symbolically brought the entire Ijaw nation to its knees, a severe insult not only to us but also an affront to someone in his position,” he said.

Hon. Justice I.A Uzakah had yesterday granted the motion ex-parte in Suit No. BYHC/YHC/CV/133/2025 filed by the state’s Attorney General, Mr Biriyai Dambo (SAN).

Listed as first and second defendants/respondents in the suit are the lead convener of the NEW Associates, organisers of the rally, Mr George Turnah, and the FCT minister, Wike.

The other defendants are the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Police Command.

The court order read, “An order of interim injunction is hereby made or granted restraining the 1st and 2nd defendants, whether by themselves, their agents, associates, privies, representatives (or any person whatsoever acting at their behest), from conducting, convening, coordinating, engaging in, organising, participating in, holding, hosting or facilitating any political assembly, rally, meeting, or gathering within Bayelsa State, for the purpose of solidarity, hosting, and celebrating the 2nd defendant in Bayelsa State, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.”

The matter was adjourned to April 11, 2025 for hearing.

At a press conference in Abuja, Turnah had refuted Governor Douye Diri’s allegation that he is colluding with the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, to instigate insecurity in Bayelsa State.

He said, at no time did he or his associates announce plans to host Wike in Bayelsa.

He said for any minister to visit a state within the federation, there must be government to government communication and full disclosure of such planned visits to relevant security formations in the state.