By Ishaya Ibrahim
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday skewered the outgoing governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, calling him a failure.
The ruling party said the governor should blame himself for the loss his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), suffered in the November 16 governor election which the APC won.
A statement by the party’s publicity secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, which was made available to TheNiche accused Dickson of wasting the opportunity of becoming a hero in Bayelsa State.
The statement reads:
“Following the resounding victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, David Lyon in the November 16 Bayelsa Governorship election, the outgoing Governor, Seriake Dickson, has 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.
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; benefiting 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.
Governor Dickson should be accounting for his stewardship. He should account for how his oversized ego cost him and PDP the governorship election in Bayelsa State. Governor Dickson, for eight years, did what a typical PDP governor would do: He ran a directionless government, he squandered the state resources, and had no traceable positive impact on Bayelsa State.
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.
APC did not need to intimidate the voters or arm-twist the agencies involved in the electoral process in Bayelsa State. Besides the fact that it is not our way, we actually had an easy victory in Bayelsa. Thanks to Governor Dickson himself for making victory easy for us. Dickson failed woefully on all fronts. He failed the people of Bayelsa who are daily faced with the reality of underdevelopment. There are no roads, no schools, no hospitals, and no visible improvement on their social life.
On Monday, it was disclosed by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that the inoperative and non functional N60 billion Bayelsa International Airport which Governor Dickson “launched” in February was constructed without perimeter fencing, the number one safety requirement for any airport.
Surprisingly, Governor Dickson still wonders why the PDP lost the Bayelsa Governorship election. M