Diri distances self from arrested aide who berated Buhari on social media

The Bayelsa Government on Tuesday dissociated Gov Douye Diri from alleged inciting comments by one Bodmas Kemepadei, a social media aide to the governor saying the views expressed were his personal opinion.

Mr Kola Oredipe, Director, New Media, Bayelsa State Government refuted the comments in a statement he issued on Tuesday in Yenagoa.

Oredipe noted that Kemepadei lacked the powers and authority to speak for Diri.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kemepadei is being interrogated by the Department of State Services (DSS) for allegedly making unpalatable comments on the social media.

Oredipe noted that the author acted on his own violation as the views he expressed had nothing to do with the Bayelsa government or the governor.

 GreenWhiteGreen GWG reports that in the video, Kemepadei was reported to have said:

 “Nigerians are no longer safe; the only person who is safe in this country is President Muhammadu Buhari. And the only reason why Buhari is safe is that he understands that Nigeria is not safe and he has therefore isolated himself.

“My people, my Nigerians all of you should wake up, all of you should wake up because nothing is working again in this country. The security architecture of this country has fallen. We don’t know our left, we don’t know our right. We don’t know where we are going as a people,” Kemepadei identified as Senior Special Assistant to Bayelsa Governor on New Media, said in the video.

However, reacting on Wednesday evening following the arrest of Kempadei, the state government said:

“Our attention has been drawn to the arrest of Mr. Bodmas Kemepadei by the Department of State Services (DSS) over alleged inciting posts on the social media against President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Let it be clear that Kemepadei lacks the authority to speak directly for His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State.

“Kemepadei, a blogger, was appointed into the Bayelsa State Government New Media Team as a Special Assistant on New Media and works under the direct supervision of the Director, New Media, who co-ordinates all government new media activities.

“He was, therefore, neither speaking on behalf of the Governor nor the state government in his video that went viral.

“Kemepadei, in the said video and other posts, must have obviously spoken as a private citizen and not as a government official because the Governor could never have authorised such comments against Mr. President,” Oredipe said.

▪︎ Report by NAN