Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has disclosed that he was once offered a chance to perform a voodoo ritual to become governor, but he declined.

The governor made the disclosure at the Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area (KOLGA) Annual Day of Thanksgiving held in Sampou, his community.

According to Diri, a senior citizen of Nigeria invited him to Abuja in 2020 and advised him to perform certain rituals if he wanted to become governor. However, Diri said he turned down the offer due to his absolute faith in God.

This, he said, happened when he contested the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate as the winner of the November 2019 governorship election, a case that was still pending before the Supreme Court at the time.

He said, “I thank God and also thank Apostle David Zilly Aggrey because he started this event. And because his prayers were heard, God made it possible to bring me in and today, it is by law that all Kolokuma/Opokuma people can gather to praise God.

“Let me reveal to you why it is important to thank God and have faith in Him. Some time ago, a senior citizen of this country invited me to Abuja and asked me to perform certain sacrifices but I declined. I told him my faith in God would not allow me to do it. He got angry and told me I would never become governor.

“He told me that he had spent $10,000 to bring the people for the sacrifice and asked for a refund, which I obliged. When the Supreme Court’s pronouncement came, the man was shocked and could not call me. Sadly, he passed on after some time.

“The story I have narrated was witnessed by my deputy and a friend in Abuja as both of them accompanied me to visit the senior citizen.

“Kolokuma/Opokuma people have every reason to thank God. As a state, we do not want anybody to be harmed in the name of politics because we do not know who God has destined for greatness. So I call on all of us in the political game to be very civil and recognise that there is God who rules in the affairs of man.”

It is worth noting that Diri became governor after the Supreme Court invalidated the results of the 2019 Bayelsa State gubernatorial elections. The court ordered Diri to be issued a certificate of return. He was sworn in as the governor of Bayelsa State on February 14, 2020. Diri was reelected in 2023.