Bayelsa PDP Fails to Endorse Atiku as Party’s Presidential Candidate

•Ex-VP inaugurates state’s secretariat annex
Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said the party meeting with former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was not an endorsement, clarifying that the party was prepared to receive all other presidential aspirants.

Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Moses Cleopas, said in a statement yesterday that the position of the state chapter of the party as supported by the leader of the party, Governor Seriake Dickson was that the party would receive all aspirants and accord each of them the respect and hospitality they deserve.

He stressed that while it was the position of the party to receive and hold consultative talks with all aspirants, the party in the state would not endorse any particular candidate before the convention.

Cleopas noted that the decision of who to endorse for the presidential candidate of the party would be collectively taken by the state at the convention of the party.

“The Bayelsa State chapter of the PDP will receive all presidential aspirants on the platform of the party. It will ensure that all presidential aspirants are treated fairly with the respect and courtesy they deserve.

“However, it is the position of the state chapter of the party that there would be no endorsement of any particular candidate before the convention.

“The position of the state would be decided collectively and expressed at the convention ground,” Cleopas said.

The party chairman who stressed that Bayelsa remains a PDP state thanked the leaders and members of the party for turning out in their numbers to receive the presidential hopeful at a very short notice.

Meanwhile, Atiku, yesterday, commended the state Governor, Dickson, for “transforming the state through purposeful leadership and the execution of people-oriented projects.”

The former vice-president, who spoke at the inauguration of the state public service secretariat, Annex 6 in Yenagoa, as part of his two-day visit to the state, also attributed the political stability and achievements recorded so far in the state to the peaceful transition from one PDP government to another since the return to civil rule in 1999.

Describing Bayelsa as a calm and peaceful state, Atiku said he had travelled through the waterways and creeks of the state which afforded him the opportunity to see firsthand, the living conditions of the people in the Niger Delta region.

“I am not a stranger in this state; I have been associating with the people of Bayelsa State since we launched the process of returning this country to democratic governance. The state is calm and peaceful.

“Sometimes at odd hours, we used to travel through the creeks of the state and the entire Niger Delta. There are a few Nigerians who are as conversant with the conditions of the people of the Niger Delta as me.”

Also speaking, Dickson reiterated his administration’s commitment to making Bayelsa one of the leading states in the country by improving on the infrastructural base of the state.

“We are happy that you have spent quality time with us here and you have taken time out here to be able to perform this simple but very profound duty. This is one of the several public office buildings that the government has constructed.