BAYELSA POLL: JONATHAN, ANENIH, PDP ELDERS ENDORSE DICKSON
Olaoluwa Folalu
Ahead of the December 5 governorship elections in Bayelsa State, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, former governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and leaders of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the State have endorsed the re-election of Governor Seriake Dickson.
The party leaders including PDP acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus and former chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih.
Speaking during the party stakeholders meeting and dinner in Yenagoa, Chief Anenih stressed that realities on ground clearly show that the present administration was doing well in the state.
Others who delivered goodwill messages at the event include Secretary, PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin; Vice Chairman of the party, South South, Dr Cairo Ojougboh and Wing Commander Peter Biakpara.
Senator Foster Ogola, Hon. Douye Diri, Air Vice Marshal Larry Koinyan (Retd) and King Amalate Turner, the Paramount Ruler of Opume in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state also endorsed Dickson.
Other PDP chieftains at the meeting include, Senator Stella Omu, Director-General, PDP Governors Forum, Osaro Onaiwu; House of Representatives member from Taraba, Hon. Rima Shawalu, his Plateau state counterpart, Hon. Solomon Maren and the Secretary of PDP South South Zone among others.
Addressing the party faithfuls, former President Jonathan said that contrary to media reports and speculations, the PDP, which has been in control of the state since its inception in 1999, still has what it takes to win the forthcoming governorship election convincingly.
He said though some members of the party defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress, the PDP family would not lose sleep over the development as it remains united and strong in its resolve to clinch victory in the December 5th polls.
Jonathan, who promised to attend a rally where Governor Dickson is expected to publicly declare his intention to seek re-election on Tuesday, however, advised the defectors to retrace their steps back to the PDP.
His words, “We are here because what is happening in Bayelsa State now is similar to what happened in the state in 2003 when my boss then, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was to contest his second tenure. A number of people went to Abuja and threw up all kinds of stories.
“People may go to Abuja and say all kinds of things but the PDP in Bayelsa is very strong. We are committed and we will win our election. Few people might have left but the party is still strong and united. Well, we will continue to talk to our brothers and sisters because politics is all about consensus building. It is not a one man business.”
On his party, Prince Uche Secondus urged members of the party not to entertain any fears that the elections would be rigged, stressing that the National Working Committee and other organs of the party would put in all necessary machinery to ensure a free and fair electoral process.
He also assured aspirants who are jostling for the party’s ticket of the PDP national leadership’s resolve to conduct a credible and zero expenses primaries in the state and thereafter support the successful candidate to run an effective electioneering campaigns in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
Quoting the holy Bible, the PDP chairman urged Bayelsans not to repay the party that provided the platform for their son and brother as the first minority to emerge president in the political history of the country with evil by voting for any of the opposition parties in the forthcoming governorship election.
Secondus said, “We have what it takes to mount enough pressure on the Federal Government in such a way that INEC cannot rig you out. Not even the police can do that because the police and army belong to the Federal Government and not the APC. So they cannot be used to rig you out.
“The Director-General of the State Security Service, Lawal Daura, has shown that he is a member of APC and he is serving out the APC agenda but we’ve warned that we are running out of patience. The President should call Daura to order. Hence when we move on the streets, the international community will see that the APC-led Federal Government has anti-democratic tendencies. And that should be stopped.”