I Declined Rituals To Become Governor – Diri

Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has revealed how his absolute faith in God earned him the sobriquet ‘Miracle Governor.’

Speaking on Friday during the KOLGA (Kolokuma/Opokuma local government area) Annual Day of Thanksgiving held in Sampou, his community, the governor disclosed how in 2020, a senior citizen of Nigeria invited him to Abuja and advised him to perform certain rituals if he wanted to be governor but that he turned down the offer.

He had challenged the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the November 2019 governorship poll as winner and the matter was then pending at the Supreme Court.

Diri told the crowd at the event that the senior citizen flew in some marabouts from Senegal to perform the rituals. When he bluntly rejected the offer, he said the man demanded a refund of the money spent to transport them into the country and he had to pay him the sum of $10,000.

A statement on Saturday by the chief press secretary, Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying that his unshaken faith in God made him decline the advice to look elsewhere for help, stressing that God, against all the odds, proved that He is always faithful.

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He emphasised the need for politicians to learn from his experience and put their trust in God rather than in man.

The Bayelsa helmsman averred that the KOLGA people have reasons to be thankful to God given the level of development they have witnessed, and thanked the council for giving the thanksgiving day a legal backing through legislation.

Governor Diri also expressed gratitude to Apostle David Zilly Aggrey, the convener, and those who have sustained the programme.

He said, “I thank God and also thank Apostle David Zilly Aggrey because he started this event.

And because his prayers were heard, God made it possible to bring me in and today, it is by law that all Kolokuma/Opokuma people can gather to praise God.”

Speaking about the senior citizen who asked him to perform certain sacrifices, he said, “When the Supreme Court’s pronouncement came, the man was shocked and could not call me. Sadly, he passed on after some time.

“The story I have narrated was witnessed by my deputy and a friend in Abuja as both of them accompanied me to visit the senior citizen.

“Kolokuma/Opokuma people have every reason to thank God. As a state, we do not want anybody to be harmed in the name of politics because we do not know who God has destined for greatness. So, I call on all of us in the political game to be very civil and recognise that there is God who rules in the affairs of man.”