Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has clarified his position over alleged unfair criticism of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, in respect of reported killings by a security outfit, Famutangbe, established by Sylva as governor of the state between 2007 and 2012.
Sylva has said he never knew about the deaths as claimed to have been committed by those he appointed to run the organization.
Dickson had accused Sylva of allowing many deaths in the hands of operatives of Famutangbe which he repeatedly reckoned to be state-sponsored terror outfit, haunting political opponents, many of whom were said to have run into exile under his watch.
He has consequently told Sylva to apologize to Bayelsans ahead of the December 5 governorship election as atonement for the actions of an institution he set up but ending up taking up arms against the people.
In an interview with newsmen on Thursday in Yenagoa, the state capital, Dickson restated his view that really the APC candidate must apologize to the people in order to close the ugly past in his relationship with the people and indeed in his public perception.
According to the governor, Sylva should be held accountable rather than passing the buck to those he put in charge of the security organization and as such he needed to take responsibility as the chief security officer of the state.
He said bluntly that the former governor did not do enough to guarantee the security of the state when he was in charge.
He said the situation he met on assumption of duty necessitated his administration’s tough stand on security of lives and property in the state, adding that security is now taken for granted but that it took a lot of efforts and resources to acquire high-tech facilities which monitor and detect crime in real time.
He stated: “I was trying to say that when you are a leader you take responsibility. If you set up an organisation likeFamutangbe and you put people in charge, as someone in ultimate authority, as chief executive officer, you take responsibility for the decisions you take, for the appointments you make and the organisations you set up. So he cannot run away from that.
“I want to use this opportunity to ask that he apologises to Bayelsans for the atrocities he committed during his tenure. He shouldn’t rationalise it. It is annoying when he says he did not know some of the victims were killed. I do not want to call names. I go campaigning in communities and the people tell me the names and number of people that were killed in their communities. This is a cause for concern. Let him apologise to Bayelsans”.
Also, Dickson said that his achievements in office will convince the people of the state to vote for him in the December 5 election.
He reviewed his tenure now winding down and observed that his achievements were all encompassing and his administration has also given the people a new appreciation of government as enabler of development.
“We have changed the face of politics in Bayelsa State’, he declared.
He said his administration has emphasized the importance of the people as the centre of all development just as the issue of accountability has been elevated as core of democracy.
“For example, every month we announce what comes in in terms of revenue and how we spend them; it is empowerment of the people. We are empowering them mentally and democratically to take charge of their future. I believe that this will be a standard moving forward as far as governorship and other elections in this state are concerned’.
He listed development in education, roads and bridges, health, provision of important public buildings, agriculture, empowerment and the airport at Anassoma as some of his notable achievements.
He said he has performed better than Sylva, saying he was confident he would win the election.
He stated: “If we have built the number of schools we have built within this period in spite of the short fall in allocation; If we have done the sort of things my government has done within this period; if I do not feel confident that I have done enough then I do not know the governor that should run for a second term because frankly if a governor were to do the sort of things I have done he will win. That is my view. I have interacted with our people and communities and they all say I deserve more than a second term. And so I am very confident.
“Even a blind man will tell you that you cannot compare our performance and that the difference between me and Sylva is like that between day and night. In what area can you compare? In terms of acquiring liabilities and debts for our state? Or are you going to measure the performance by the number of killings in the state? In every area, talking about peace and security and development, we know that there is no comparison”.
In a related development, Dickson’s second term bid got yet a major boost as all the communities in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state declared their support for him. The local government has the third largest population in the state and the governor’s local government.
It was evidently a home-coming for Dickson as the various communities trooped out to welcome their son and in unison declared the local government a “no -go- area” for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Dickson had led the Bayelsa Restoration Campaign Organization to the communities in continuation of his campaign tour to the grassroots across the state.
The people were ecstatic in their outpouring of encomiums onDickson for their appreciation of what they said his administration has done to uplift their communities.
In their various speeches and remarks, they said they were in one accord to vote the PDP, stating that the December 5 governorship election would only be a formality as Bayelsans in general were poised to endorse continuity of the present administration at the election.
Stakeholders from Bayelsa West Senatorial District, including the former Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon Peremobowei Ebebi, Senator Fosta Ogola, Engr. Charles Dorgu, Hon. Fred Agbedi,Fyneman Wilson, Senator John Brambaifa, Ayakeme Whisky, Hon Emomotimi Fanama and Willy Oyadougha assured the governor of their readiness to deliver PDP at the election.
Some of the communities visited during the tour were Odoni,Agbere, Trofani and Trofani where the governor commissioned a branch of the Izon Ibe Micro Finance Bank.
At Trofani, the governor got a rousing reception from the chiefs and the people and was also conferred with the chieftaincy title of Opu Okirei, (the big cannon) of Trofani in appreciation ofwhat they said was his doggedness in tackling developmental challenges facing the state.
At separate courtesy calls, the Pere of Kumbowei clan, King Jones Sufade Akadan and his Kabowei counterpart, Chief Hope Toru, led their council of chiefs to welcome Dickson and promised to mobilize their subjects to come out en mass to vote for the PDP on the election -day.
Addressing a mega rally in Sagbama , the governor noted that the outpouring of love and solidarity by the people further demonstrated the predominant position of the PDP in the State.
While expressing gratitude to his kinsmen for their support, he pledged to do more for the area and the entire state in terms of development in his second term.
