November 2 Election, a Battle Between Federal Might and Bayelsa People, Says Dickson

November 2 Election, a Battle Between Federal Might and Bayelsa People, Says Dickson

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

The governor of Bayelsa State, Mr Seriake Dickson, has told his appointees and political allies that the next governorship election in the state, scheduled for November 2, will be a battle between federal might and the people of the state.

He, therefore called on leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to eschew acts of disunity to avoid a crack within their ranks.

Speaking during an Executive Council meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the party’s secretariat in Yenagoa, Dickson maintained that going by the experience of the 2015 governorship election as well as the recently concluded general election, this year’s election would even be more challenging.

“The forthcoming governorship election won’t be a battle with the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) alone, but with the federal might as represented by federal institutions,” he said.

While decrying political violence during elections in the state, Dickson stressed that the opposition party knows it had no chance of winning any election in the state and as such resorts to violence every time.

“In the last elections, they wanted to take over everywhere. So in this year’s election, we are not contending with APC or their candidates but the institutions of the federal government, the federal might.

“Bayelsa is a stronghold of PDP. We are going to prove that again with our voter cards in the forthcoming governorship election. We cannot be intimidated by heavy presence of security operatives and political thugs. They had failed in the past. They will fail again this time around,” the governor said.

He said his administration had brought about stability in the polity, saying the political culture now differs from the past when disagreement and disunity reigned between the governor and deputy, incessant impeachment in the state house of assembly and intra-party feud leading to instability.

He stressed that even those who contested election with him in other parties or held opposing views werere now holding top positions in his government and urged Bayelsans to cultivate a new attitude of peace and harmony.

Dickson said appointments would be made at the grassroots level as a way of rewarding those who worked for the party’s success, adding that chairmen and members of the 32 Rural Development Authorities will soon be constituted.

Earlier in his address, the state chairman of the PDP, Cleopas Moses, commended party members and congratulated winners in the last election.

He warned them to be vigilant, alleging that there were plots by the opposition party to infiltrate their ranks to cause disunity.

The interim report of the party’s disciplinary committee was officially presented at the meeting.

At the meeting were: Chief Thompson Okorotie, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, Chief Remi Kuku, Douye Diri, Senator- elect Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, Fred Agbedi, representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal constituency, members of the State House of Assembly, wards and local government chairmen.

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