TheCable

Preye Aganaba, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention committee, says the Bayelsa state government has denied the party a permit to use the multipurpose hall within the stadium in Yenagoa, Bayelsa capital, for its congress.

Aganaba also alleged that the Bayelsa government was doing everything possible to frustrate the conduct of the exercise.

He said the party executive in Bayelsa applied for the use of the facility officially, arguing that the state government had no reason to deny the APC its use.

“It is true that the state government is denying us the use of stadium for our state congress meant to take place in Bayelsa on Saturday (tomorrow),” he said.

“We have properly applied and we were not told that the facility will not be available for us, to our surprise, up till now the state government has refused to approve the facility for us.”

He added that the APC in Bayelsa had been peaceful and orderly as revealed in its just concluded ward and local government congresses, saying that there was assurance that Saturday´s state congress would be crisis free.

“The government must be told that we are all indigenes of the state, we are not foreigners,” he said.

“We have right to association and to belong to any political party of our choice, so we don’t deserve to be treated like outcasts.”

He, therefore, urged the state government to have a rethink, adding that it would amount to political intolerance if the state government refused APC the use of a public place such as the stadium.

When TheCable contacted Fidelis Soriwei, spokesman of the governor, he said: “Today is Saturday; you are just telling me now. Let me call you back.”