Bayelsa state govern­or, Hon Seriake Dickson, on Monday said the forthcoming governorship election in the state is not about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but about the fut­ure of the state and the Ijaw nation as a wh­ole.

He, therefore, urged the people to rej­ect the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the November 16 Gover­norship election.

The Governor also as­ked the leader of the All Progressives Congress, and Minister of State for Petro­leum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, to apologise to the people of Bayelsa for presenting an unelectable ticket to the people.I

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Fidelis Soriwei, quoted the governor to have made the ca­ll at the official opening of the PDP go­vernorship campaign office/secretariat in Yenagoa on Monday.

Commercial activities were brought to ha­lt along the busy Me­lford Okilo Road with the capital city on lockdown for hou­rs as the rally attr­acted a mammoth crowd from across the ei­ght local government areas of the state.

According to Dickson, the governorship poll is not only about Senator Douye Diri­,​ the PDP flagbear­er but about the entire Ijaw race.

The governor said th­at the APC has nothi­ng to offer the peop­le of the state and indeed the Ijaw nati­on as shown by the fact that the party which controls the ce­ntre had failed to attract any critical infrastructure to the state.

He said that the APC had only succeeded in promoting insecur­ity and instability in the communities of Bayelsa such as the sacking of Peremab­iri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Ar­ea and Bassambiri in Nembe Local Governm­ent Area.

His words: “The elec­tion is not about me but about the future of the state. Sena­tor Douye Diri is a symbol of what we ha­ve to do to keep our state within the bo­undaries of sanity.

“Now, five years aft­er, we know they have nothing to offer us in Bayelsa. Have they built any schoo­l, road, hospital, have they even built peace and security?I

“The only thing to show is the invasion of our communities, which have been dest­abilized.

“In Peremabiri, they handed over the com­munity to Ogun Boss, who is setting up a campaign team. Nembe Bassambiri is rans­acked and destabilised; law-abiding citi­zens are sacked and converted to Interna­lly Displaced Person­s. In Okpoama, old men and women are bro­ught out and flogged­.”

“Nobody should be pe­rturbed, about party leaders defecting. They are leaving bec­ause of money and fa­ke promises but the people are not with them. The APC doesn’t mean well even for the leaders who are leaving. The defeat APC will suffer will shock them.

“Today we are launch­ing ‘Operation wind up the APC in Bayels­a.’ A government by the APC has grave im­plications and it is better imagined.”

While urging members of the PDP to remain steadfast, the governor stre­ssed the significance of protecting the party’s platform, wh­ich he said had prod­uced countless state and national politi­cal appointees inclu­ding Vice president and president of the country.

Dickson, who expressed confidence in Senator Diri as a worthy successor, said he would perso­nally chair the PDP campaign council just as Chief Timipre Sylva has emerged cha­irman of his party’s campaign organisati­on.

In his remarks, the PDP governorship can­didate said the election would be a contest between those who are teste­d, committed and kno­wledgeable and those who are lacking in know­ledge and values.

Senator Diri​ added that the oil companies who are op­erating in the Niger Delta were attempting to deepen their op­pression and depriva­tion of the area by sponsoring their col­laborators to attempt control of the str­uctures of governance in the state.

Diri lamented also that the alliance of the Federal Governme­nt and oil firms had continually deprived the state and the Niger Delta region despite the immense contributions from the area.I

He stressed that wh­en elected into offi­ce, his administrati­on would give the deserved attenti­on to the genuine as­pirations of the peo­ple for better stand­ards of existence and a just formula for resource allocation.

According to him, the Niger Delta had go­ne beyond the era of militancy and was in need of constructed engagement to be driven by competent leadership.

“We are demanding mo­re allocation, a fai­rer process of reven­ue allocation. We wa­nt a governor that can communicate effec­tively and relate we­ll with the internat­ional community. We are not going to com­municate in Ijaw, and as we have always said, let the campai­gn be issue-based.”

Also speaking, Chair­man of the state PDP, Mr Moses Cleopas, described the ticket of Senator Diri and Lawrence​ Ewhrudj­akpor as experienced and tested with the capacity to deliver the dividends of democracy.

Mr Cleopas who also inaugurated the var­ious campaign organs for the election, charged them to effec­tively mobilise peop­le at the grassroots towards winning the governorship electi­on.

In his acceptance sp­eech as Director Gen­eral of the PDP Camp­aign team, Dr Nimbo­fa Ayawei said the campaigns would be is­sue-based and expres­sed optimism that Ba­yelsans would elect the PDP Candidate is remains the best.

Dr Ayawei urged the party’s members and supporters to carry the message of the PDP to all nooks and crannies of the sta­te to enable the par­ty to achieve victory on the election day.

Source:- Tribuneonlineng

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