Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has revealed how his absolute faith in God earned him the sobriquet ‘Miracle Governor.’

Speaking at the weekend, during the, KOLGA (Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area) Annual Thanksgiving Day held in Sampou, his community, the Bayelsa State governor disclosed how in 2020, he turned down a ritual offer from a senior citizen in the bid to become governor.

He had challenged the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the November 2019 governorship poll as winner and the matter was then pending at the Supreme Court.

Diri told the crowd at the gathering that the senior citizen flew in some marabouts from Senegal to perform the rituals.

According to him when he bluntly rejected the offer, the man demanded a refund of the money spent to transport them into the country and he had to pay him the sum of $10,000.

He explained that his unshaken faith in God made him decline the advice to look elsewhere for help, saying God, against all the odds, proved that He is always faithful.

The Bayelsa helmsman averred that the KOLGA people have reasons to be thankful to God given the level of development they have witnessed, and thanked the council for giving Thanksgiving Day legal backing through legislation.

Governor Diri also expressed gratitude to Apostle David Zilly Aggrey, the convener, and those who have sustained the programme.

His words: “Let me reveal to you why it is important to thank God and have faith in Him. Sometime 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 the person 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 men.”

In his welcome address, the chairman of Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area, Tariye Lelei, said people of the area have reason to thank God for the gift of the governor.

In his sermon, Apostle David Zilly Aggrey said the younger generation might not understand the reason for the thanksgiving as they did not experience the difficulty older ones in the local government faced and said if they do not thank God for what He had done for them, they could be regarded as ingrates.