By Kumo Amgbere
The deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the just concluded off cycle election in Bayelsa State, Joshua Maciver, has described former President Goodluck Jonathan, endorsement of Gov. Diri, before the election as disheartening and a manner that doesn’t speak well of an elder stateman.
Maciver, stated that as a former President and leader to all, Jonathan would have played a non partisan and a fatherly role rather than endorsing one candidate against another, maintaining that he has lost his respect and love from his admirers in the state.
In a statement, signed and issued on Sunday, Maciver also expressed worries over Jonathan’s speech on relocating the mother had Governor Diri not won his reelection.
The statement reads “It is with a deep sense of concern that I, Great Joshua MacIver, Deputy Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Bayelsa State, address the endorsement of Governor Douye Diri by former President Goodluck Jonathan”
In a manner that departs from the expected statesmanship, I find it disheartening that Jonathan, in a state where his role should be fatherlike and non-partisan to all candidates, has chosen to endorse a specific individual, during a political season.
Furthermore, I express my reservations regarding the former President’s statement about the planned relocation of his mother to Abuja had Governor Douye Diri lost the governorship election. This public speech, openly demarketing Bayelsa State as unsafe and insecure, is a sentiment that should not be voiced by someone of his stature.
Sadly, Jonathan’s recent action has made him lose the respect of all true followers of the former Minister of State Petroleum Resources and APC Governorship Candidate in the last election, Chief Timipre Marlin Sylva.
