Coastal Road: ‘I’m local champion; you’re pretender’ — Gov Diri replies Duke

By Adegboyega Adeleye Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has hit back at former Cross River State governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate Donald Duke, calling him a “jester and a pretender” after Duke’s remarks about the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. In a recent interview on Arise Television, the PRP candidate called governor Diri a “local champion” while arguing that the coastal road project was not feasible because of its cost and Bayelsa State’s terrain.

Diri had earlier rejected Duke’s claim that building the highway through Bayelsa was not feasible, adding that the ex-governor is “not abreast of current developments in road construction and infrastructure” in Bayelsa. Reacting to Diri’s comment, Duke said: “The governor of Bayelsa, if he did say so, I don’t know the fellow, but if he did say so, I think he’s just being a local champion.” One week after Duke’s comment, Governor Diri, in a video which has now gone viral, fired back at the PRP candidate, saying he’s a local champion elected to defend his people.

“Yes, I’m a local champion, because that is where I was raised. I am elected to defend the local people. I am elected to champion their cause. But Donald Duke, let me ask you, you were on seat when Bakassi was ceeded out of Nigeria. “You were the sitting governor of Cross River state. Because you are not a local champion, you did nothing about it. I believe that you are more of a jester and a pretender,” he said.

Diri also questioned Duke’s political standing in his own ward, and said the dispute was about his people and the region, not simply a personal disagreement. “Donald Duke, I am not one who takes up people, I am not one of those who insult people; I don’t insult leaders; I don’t insult elders but what you have done is not just about me, it is about my environment, it is about my people.” The governor further defended the region’s development potential, saying Bayelsa and other coastal communities should not be defined by their difficult terrain.

“Donald Duke, I am not that fellow, I am the sitting governor of Bayelsa state. All of us from this region, particularly from Bayelsa state, do not accept the narrative that your state cannot be developed. We have a very rich ancestry, our terrain is one of the best if we develop it and we are prepared to take our destiny into our hands.” Diri also thanked the President for supporting the coastal road, describing it as an opportunity to address poverty and the dehumanisation of coastal communities.