The intrigues and twists characterising the processes, leading to the 2012 governorship election in Bayelsa State appear not to be abating, as the suit instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to checkmate an earlier one by the embattled governor, Chief Timipreye Sylva, reaches a climax.

Governor Sylva had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging his disqualification from the party’s governorship primaries. But in a swift twist, the PDP filed a counter-suit at the Appeal Court, aimed at stopping the governor’s suit. The Appeal Court has reversed its verdict indefinitely.

As the state, particularly members of the PDP, await the verdict, there is yet another issue that appears to have created disunity, even among those who were united by the ordeal of the ruffled Governor Sylva. That is, the appointment of the running mate to the governorship candidate, Mr Henry Seriake Dickson. Unambiguously, the development has split President Goodluck Jonathan’s immediate political family.

First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has disagreed with the choice, insisting that a change be effected to reflect her input, Saturday Tribune learnt authoritatively.

The development, it was gathered, might likely affect the timely take off of the party’s campaign for the election.

PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Professor Rufai Alkali, on Thursday evening, issued a statement, announcing the submission of Dickson’s name, alongside that of the immediate past commandant of the National Defence College, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd), to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in readiness for the poll.

But the choice, according to a competent source in the Presidential Villa, jolted Mrs. Jonathan, who had reportedly secured assurances from her husband, as well as his close allies, that her preferred choice and former commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Bayelsa State, Mr. Waripamowei Dudafa, was going to be  Dickson’s running mate.

Dudafa, who hails from Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area in the Central Senatorial District, and a former lawmaker at the state legislature, was a commissioner under Governor Timipre Sylva until last year when he was swept away in a cabinet reshuffle.

All the same, Director-General of Dickson’s Campaign Organisation, Mr Alfred Agbedi, insisted that the choice of the retired military officer was arrived at after wide consultations with all relevant stakeholders in the party.

But the source, who craved anonymity, said the insistence of the president’s wife and a few leaders of the PDP for a change stemmed from the fact that she had backed one of the disqualified governorship aspirants (names withheld) for the plum job, but failed in the bid.

It could not be officially confirmed whether or not there was an agreement that she would produce the running mate to the eventual winner of the primaries.

“I can tell you, without mincing words, that there are some issues to be sorted out; as I am talking to you now, the First Lady is in sharp disagreement with the choice of the running mate and this is what we cannot just overlook because she is a stakeholder too; until this is sorted out, the campaign kick-off may be delayed a bit.

“You know that she wanted someone else as the party’s candidate, but we had to use various diplomatic means to sway her to our side when the person in question could not scale through the hurdles.

“But she had equally signified her interest in making Dudafa the running mate to the candidate; but you know there are a lot of issues involved, so it was at the last minute that Admiral Jonah was picked and this has really created some upset for her and others, who feel that she should, at least, be given some leverage, having failed in the first instance,” the source said.

It was gathered that the First Lady’s calculation was to shore up support-base for her husband’s protégé, Dickson, by way of fronting and indeed, presenting someone from the Central Senatorial District of the state.

According to the source, the permutation of those receptive to the First Lady’s choice based their argument on the premise that it was politically unjust for the running mate of the governorship candidate to come from the same Senatorial District with President Jonathan.

Chairman, Justice and Equity Forum of Bayelsa, Comrade Odein Marcus, condemned the choice of someone from Bayelsa East, stressing that the decision was capable of creating some upsets in the coming election.

“It is very unimaginable that they went ahead to pick someone from the same senatorial district with president, the same place from where the incumbent governor hails.

“We fought for justice in the state, where areas that have not felt powerful positions before, like Bayelsa West, should be considered for the governorship.

“I think that was one of the reasons for the emergence of the candidate, but from the look of things, he is also prepared to look the other way when it comes to justice, but some of us have told them that if the choice of someone from the same area with Sylva will create upsets for the party; whether they take it or not is their problem,” Marcus told Saturday Tribune on the telephone.

Also within the week, Governor Sylva condemned the PDP for what he called a ‘hasty decision’ by presenting Dickson’s name to INEC.

Sylva, who made this known in a press statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Doifie Ola, said, it was wrong for the party to proceed with such in view of the judicial proceedings that are ongoing at the moment.

Nonetheless, Agbedi dismissed both positions, saying, the decision to pick Admiral Jonah was collectively taken by all relevant stakeholders within the party.

“That is just a fiction of the imagination of those who told you the story; those who have failed in their bid to get the ticket of the PDP should not drag in the name of our respected First Lady; they should leave her alone.

“All I know is that the choice of the retired naval officer was arrived at after very constructive consultations cutting across relevant spheres of stakeholders in the party. He was neither imposed on the candidate nor did the candidate pick him unilaterally.

“The man was the Director of Security in the run-up to the primaries; as such, he is eminently qualified to be running-mate to the candidate, Mr Dickson.

“In politics, there is no way people will not raise issues on anything or decision you arrive at; what we are seeing today about the propriety or otherwise of the choice of our deputy governorship candidate cannot be insulated from the intrigues that are usually associated with politics.

“If you look well, some of those who raise these issues are not even members of the party, so where their business comes in, we do not know at all. I think, the best thing is for us to ignore all these orchestrated talks in view of our campaigns as soon as possible,” Agbedi said.