Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has said that they will use available legal instruments to challenge what he called “the illegality perpetrated during the governorship election in Bayelsa on November 16.”
Dickson, who said that on the day of the election, he witnessed “the outright desecration of all known democratic tenets,” wondered why INEC at the first instance allowed the All Progressives Congress (APC) to field a candidate in the election despite court orders.
Dickson, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, insisted that what happened in Bayelsa “was nothing but a civilian coup and not an election.
“As of the day of the election, the APC did not have a validly nominated candidate for the election…The cumulative effect of two Federal High Court judgments on the matter was that the party did not take part in the exercise,” he said, adding that they will pursue the case to its logical conclusion.”
Dickson alleged that at least 12 people lost their lives while another 93 were injured during the election, despite the deployment of security agencies “who looked the other way while APC agents perpetrated rigging.”
“Our supporters were warned not to come to the community (Nembe) to campaign, claiming the place belongs to the APC,” the outgoing governor said. Dickson, who said he was a fulfilled man considering the landmark achievements he recorded in the areas of health, education and other sectors, said he has respect for former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“He is my boss, I have no problem at all with him in whatever form,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that shame would not allow Dickson to carry out self-evaluation after the victory of its governorship candidate, David Lyon.
The APC National Publicity Secretary, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, said in a statement issued that the outgoing Governor Dickson had blamed everyone, including public institutions, but himself for the loss of the PDP and his governorship candidate who he tried “unsuccessfully” to foist on the state.
He said rather than sounding ridiculous in an attempt to look for a scapegoat by blaming everyone else besides himself, Governor Dickson should explain how he “singlehandedly” chased away other PDP leaders.
The statement read, “If Governor Dickson should stand before the mirror, he would see a clown, a prodigal son, and a failure, all rolled into one. We know he cannot do that. Shame would not allow him to carry out self-evaluation.
“He should sit down to ask himself critical questions: How did he waste the opportunity he had to become a hero in a state that badly needs one? A state with the 4th highest federal allocation among 36 states; benefitting from huge oil derivation funds; ranked 27th among 36 states in terms of landmass; least populated of the 36 states, yet has nothing to show for it.”
