A planned rally in support of President Bola Tinubu and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, scheduled for April 12 in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, is expected to proceed as planned despite a court order purportedly halting the gathering.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that on Friday, the organisers of the event vowed to go ahead with it.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, George Turnah, factional South-South Zonal Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the court ruling has been misinterpreted and does not stop their event.
According to Turnah, the gathering is being hosted by a group called New Associates and is meant to launch the Bayelsa State chapter of the group. He clarified it is also an opportunity to thank President Tinubu for appointing several Bayelsa natives into key government roles.
He stated: “Our rally, as we have said and made public, is for the purpose of inaugurating a group called and known as the New Associates, Bayelsa State Chapter, and then to thank and appreciate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing notable sons and daughters of Bayelsa State into positions of trust in the country. That is the purpose. It is not the purpose that this court’s order captures.”
Turnah argued that the court order did not mention banning rallies for the reasons they intend, saying: “We are going ahead. We are going ahead.”
“It’s just like saying ‘Don’t hold press conference in Cubana Hotel for the purpose of listening to George Turner.’ It doesn’t stop practitioners from holding press conference in Cubana for the purpose of listening to Jeremiah,” he explained.
He emphasized that no plans had been made to invite Minister Wike to the rally.
“There was no time that we as a group, gave out a notice that we are going to host Minister Wike,” he said. “Wike, as of today, is not in our plans or programme to be in Bayelsa. We have not even extended invitations to Wike to come.”
However, he acknowledged Wike’s indirect role in helping Bayelsa citizens by recommending them for key positions. “While thanking Mr. President, we will also say thank you, Wike, for recommending and trusting that this class of persons can contribute to helping Mr. President deliver on his mandate,” Turnah added.
He dismissed claims that Wike’s rumoured visit was part of the rally, saying such talk is political. He also criticised the introduction of ethnic sentiments into the situation, warning it could harm national unity.
Turnah said they did not owe any explanations to Governor Douye Diri: “We don’t owe the governor and it’s a private group. We don’t owe him, we are not inviting him, so we don’t need to inform him.”
“The level of incitement against my person by Governor Diri can be likened to, in the words of Governor Fubara, ‘when a man cocks a gun, and maybe because the gun is in safety and the bullets didn’t come out, the man has already killed you.’”
Turnah added, “Let it be known by all the people of Bayelsa State, the Ijaw Nation, and Nigeria that on the 28th of March 2025, His Excellency, Sen. Douye Diri, Governor of my State, pulled a dangerous trigger against me but, to the glory of God, I am still alive today to tell the story.”
He said he remains committed to peaceful political engagement and credited former President Goodluck Jonathan for shaping his political life.
“My gratitude to him and his entire household, particularly my mother and his dear wife, Dame Dr Patience Jonathan, is for life,” he said. “I shall continue to be guided by the virtues of loyalty, humility, kindness, affection, dedication, commitment, trustworthiness, and self-discipline instilled in me by my mentor of all times, and father, President Jonathan.”