You are a jester, Diri blasts Donald Duke, rejects Umahi’s position on Lagos Calabar highway

^{Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State has described Donald Duke, Presidential Candidate of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), as a jester, shedding more light on his disagreement with the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi.}

^{Speaking at Government House, Yenagoa, during the 200th session of the state executive council, the governor opposed the move to realign the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project with the East-West road.}

^{He said he explained his position to Umahi in a private conversation but the Minister attempted convincing him by making reference to President Bola Tinubu.}

^{He said: “I read, like everyone else, that there would be a realignment and that the coastal road would be merged with the East-West Road, which I do not believe is the same project. That should be a South-South road.}

^{“I privately called the Minister of Works and said, “Honourable Minister, that is a no, no, no for us. These are two different projects.}

^{“I agree with you that the East-West Road should be reconstructed. It is called the East-West Road, but its reconstruction should not take the place of the coastal road.}

^{“While you reconstruct the East-West Road, the coastal road must continue because you have already won the hearts of all the coastal states. I told him that, for me and my state, the coastal road must continue. He kept mentioning Mr President’s name, and I felt that he was the implementer, and was the one who addressed the media. So, go back and tell Mr President that this is the position of the governors of the South-South, because I also speak as chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum.”}

^{On Duke, the Bayelsa governor said he was perplexed watching a video clip of the former Cross River State governor speaking on the project.}

^{Diri expressed shock that a son of the South-South could describe the project as not feasible because, according to him, Bayelsa was a swamp.}

^{“When I watched the video and listened to everything he said about the coastal road, what actually made me respond was the example he gave using my state, Bayelsa. He said the coastal road was not feasible, and his reason was that even the state capital of Bayelsa is a swamp. According to him, for the coastal road to pass through Bayelsa, 100 to 200 bridges would have to be constructed.}

^{“You pretend to be a presidential candidate of PRP. There is not even a councillor from PRP in Cross River. Not even in your own ward. Yet, you pretend to be a presidential candidate so that at the end of the day you can be rehabilitated.}

^{“You can continue to be your national and international champion without a nucleus, without a base. I advise you to go back and settle the huge debts hanging over the heads of generations yet unborn, debts that you incurred and passed on to successive governments in your state.}

^{“Do not use Bayelsa State as an example of a place where roads cannot be built. You were in office when Bakassi was ceded out of Nigeria. But because you were not a local champion, you did nothing about it.}

^{“I believe you are more of a jester and a pretender. You pretend to be a presidential candidate, even though you have been out of government for over a decade — almost two decades.”}

^{Diri explained that it was not in his character to engage in public disagreement or fight with people.}

^{“I am not one of those who insult people. I do not insult leaders or elders. But what you have done is not just about me. It is about my environment and my people. I will always stand tall to defend this environment and the people of Bayelsa State.”}

^{“With our limited resources as a state government, we are building bridges and roads in the same swamp that he says cannot be developed. We are inviting him to come to Bayelsa since he has used our state as an example.”}

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^{He said that in his earlier response, he reminded Duke that it was the same swamps that produced the golden egg that fuelled the entire Nigerian economy.}

^{“Yet, after that press statement, which I asked my Chief Press Secretary to issue, the former governor of Cross River State went back to say what I saw as more of an insult to my person. He started by saying, “That fellow.”}

^{“Donald Duke, I am not that fellow. I am the sitting governor of Bayelsa State. He also said, I don’t even know that fellow. But I do not want you to know me from Adam, and I don’t know you just as you do not know me.}

^{“Hear me well: I am not that fellow. I am an elected, sitting governor of Bayelsa State, and I am very surprised that this is coming from a son of the Niger Delta and, more importantly, a former governor who should respect the office of a governor at all times. He did not stop there. He went on to say that, since I do not know him, he is a local champion.}

^{“Yes, I am a local champion because that is where I was raised. I was elected to defend the local people. I was elected to champion their cause. I was elected to see possibilities where there seem to be impossibilities.”}

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