The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bayelsa poll

  • l have no problem with Sylva – Dickson

    l have no problem with Sylva – Dickson

    The Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, at the weekend declared that he has no personal problem with the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the December 5 governorship election in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva.

    The governor pledged to award a contract for the construction of Brass/Nembe road if re-elected for a second term.

    The road leads to Okpoama, the community of Sylva.

    Dickson, who is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election, spoke when he took his community-based campaign tour to Sylva’s country home.

    He assured them of his administration’s resolve to award the multi billion Naira Nembe/Brass Road during the first quarter of 2016, if re-elected for a second term in office.

    He said the award of the contract would add to the ongoing Ogbia/Nembe road project and other developmental work in the area.

    Dickson, who was received by the Okpoama Council of Chiefs, commended the people of the area for their support.

    He said the reception was a testimony that the people of Brass local government area were in support of the PDP-led administration.

    Dickson said the Brass/Nembe road would be given due attention as to enable his administration achieve its policy of exploring the Atlantic Ocean to enhance socio-economic development.

    According to him, clearing and sand-filling would be done as soon as the project is awarded to a competent contractor.

    Speaking on the State Maritime Academy sited in Okpoma by the present administration, Dickson expressed concern that the institution had yet to function as expected because of financial constraints.

    He explained that his administration went into partnership with the Polish government, noting that the application for the project was not successful.

    The governor said he has no personal problems with the candidate of the main opposition party in the state.

     

  • APC members were attacked, injured -Sylva

    The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva, on Wednesday insisted that members of the party were attacked and injured by thugs suspected to be supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The candidate through his campaign outfit, Sylva/Igiri Campaign Organisation (SICO) asked the police in the state to investigate the development and arrest persons who carried out the attack.

    The Director, SICO, Chief Nathan Egba, in a statement in Yenagoa said the victims’ only offence was that they helped the state government to clear the capital city of refuse.

    He said: “We call on the state Commissioner of Police to bring to book those PDP thugs who attacked and injured about four APC women and a driver of one of the evacuating trucks at Amarata and Tombia areas of Yenagoa, with one of the trucks set ablaze and another’s windscreen smashed.

    “The Women and Youth wings of the Campaign Organization were on a rescue mission to help the PDP-led administration perform one if its statutory functions of clearing refuse at various dump sites when they were attacked.

    “It is, therefore, unacceptable that apart from attacking the women, the PDP thugs burnt down one of our trucks at the Tombia dump site and smashed the windscreen of another truck at Amarata area of Yenagoa.

    “It is regrettable that the Bayelsa State Government that should ordinarily protect its people had turned out to unleash terror on the citizens, because of the desperation of Governor Seriake Dickson to secure second term in office, which has clearly become a mirage.

    While sympathising with persons injured in the attack, Egba assured them of the party’s commitment to ensuring that they receive the best medical treatment.

     

  • Bayelsa APC, PDP trade words over violence

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State on Tuesday accused each other of violence in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    While the PDP claimed that APC members in uniform attacked the campaign train of Governor Seriake Dickson at the popular Swali market in Yenagoa, the APC alleged that PDP supporters assaulted its supporters clearing heap of garbage at the market and other parts of the city.

    A statement issued by the Director, Publicity, Restoration Campaign Organisation (RCO), the campaign outfit of Dickson, said the situation would have degenerated into a bloody brawl but for the prompt intervention of security aides attached to the governor’s convoy.

    The statement described the attack as barbaric and undemocratic, referring to the APC as a violent party.

    It said:  “Clearly the APC in Bayelsa State is not prepared for any election. They are prepared for war.

    “We advise all our supporters not to allow themselves to be provoked by the APC and its brand of violence politics. We must preach peace at all times and maintain law and order because we are people of peace,” he said.

    But the Director, Media and Publicity, Sylva/Igiri Campaign Organisation (SICO), Chief Nathan Egba, claimed that Dickson directed his supporters to attack APC women and youths who were on a rescue mission to evacuate refuse at different dump sites in Yenagoa.

    He said the PDP’s statement was a childish and diversionary tactics.

    He said: “Everybody in Yenagoa knows that APC women came out since 7:00am today clearing the rubbish dumps the Dickson administration had ignored over time.

    “Swali dump site was one of the places the women went to clear and the PDP only went there to disrupt the process.

    “It was PDP members that attacked our members and burnt one of the trucks the APC hired to transport refuse to the dump site at Tombia.

    “The APC Campaign organization also received information that another set of women and youths were attacked at Amarata while clearing the refuse. The windscreen of the trucks were smashed and vehicle damaged by the rampaging PDP members.”

     

     

  • Bayelsa poll: Oshiomhole, Tambuwal Ambode to campaign for Sylva

    Bayelsa poll: Oshiomhole, Tambuwal Ambode to campaign for Sylva

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Monday mandated Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole and six other APC governors to deliver Bayelsa State to the party in the December 5 governorship election in the state.

    Oyegun, who spoke while inaugurating a 38- member high powered Bayelsa Governorship Campaign Council at the party secretariat in Abuja, said Bayelsa is a state where the party wants to prove a point, saying “change must come to Bayelsa State.”

    The other governors tasked with the mandate of winning the Bayelsa governorship election for the party are Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) who will act as deputy chairman, Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Kashim Shettima ( Borno), Owelle Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano)and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara).

    Other members of the committee are the Deputy National Chairman, South, Engr. Segun Oni, National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, National Vice Chairman, South West, South- South, South East and North West, Chief Pius Oluwole Akinyelure, Prince Hilliard Etta, Hon. Emma Eneukwu and Inuwa Abdulkadir respectively.

    Inaugurating the committee, Oyegun said the party is expecting all its 22 governors to be part of the campaign, adding that “what is important is that seven governors have volunteered to give up their time and energy to serve as members of the campaign council.

  • Police to Bayelsa politicians: Play by rules

    The police on Monday warned politicians and political parties in Bayelsa State to obey the rules guiding the electoral process before, during and after the December 5 governorship poll in the state.

    The state police Commissioner, Mr. Nasiru Oki, said all the parties to the election are aware of the rules of engagement and must strive to operate within the ambit of the law.

    He said on the day of the election, people are expected to go to their polling units, cast their votes quietly and return to their homes.

    He said nobody would be allowed to carry dangerous instruments such as guns, knives and cudgels to voting centres.

    Besides, Oki asked parties wishing to engage in campaigns to obtain police permit before going ahead with such political events.

    He said: “People should know the rules guiding election and they should play by the rules. Nobody is allowed to do things that are unethical and against the electoral laws. Everybody should try and understand electoral laws and obey them.

    “When you want to vote go to the voting place, vote quietly and return to your houses. You are not allowed to carry dangerous instruments like guns, knives and cutlasses to the voting centers.  You will be committing an offence if you do that one.

    “Go and ask for police for permissions before you go ahead with your campaigning.  If you don’t do that you are committing an offence and we will not allow you.  So anybody who is desirous to campaign in Bayelsa State should make sure that the police are adequately informed.”

     

  • ‘Leaders failed Bayelsa’

    The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) in the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa State, Mr. Moses Siasia, on Wednesday said bad leadership was the major problem of the state.

    The 35-year-old younger brother of National U-23 Team Coach, Samson Siasia, spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, while unveiling a two-point agenda he hoped to implement if elected the governor of the state.

    He insisted that past leaders of the state failed because they lacked the capacity to think positively to bring about development.

    Siasia, who unveiled job creation and education as his agenda, told journalists and civil society organisations that at 35 years old, he has achieved a lot in business.

    He boasted that a company he founded has employed 400 young Nigerian professionals including 70 persons from Bayelsa.

    He challenged other governorship candidates to disclose their achievements and contributions to the state in their private capacities.

    Siasia said his youthful age would not affect his performance, adding that persons claiming to be experienced achieved nothing with it.

    Describing himself as a job creating machine, Siasia promised to use his experience as an entrepreneur to create 30,000 jobs for Bayelsans in two and a half years if given the mandate to govern them.

    He said:  “Past leaders of Bayelsa State have failed because they lacked the capacity to think positively to bring about development.

    “I will increase the state’s internally generated revenue from N50m to N5bn per month if elected.

    “Also, if voted, my administration will diversify the state economy through agriculture and tourism to make Bayelsa an economic pacesetter in the South-South geo-political zone. I will increase workers’ minimum wage from N18,000 to N25,000, while there would be prompt payment of gratuity to pensioners.”

    On Education, he said there would be free education for primary and secondary school pupils across the state.

    He said bursary for students in the institutions of higher learning would be increased by 100 per cent.

    Siasia promised to increase power supply by 80 per cent, while the state would have an International Airport within the period of two years of his government.

    Siasia unveiled Mrs. Irene Opuene, a civil servant from Akasa Town in Brass local government area of the state as his running mate.

  • Bayelsa election can’t be rigged -Dickson

    Bayelsa election can’t be rigged -Dickson

    The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, on Monday declared that the December 5 governorship election cannot be rigged by anybody.

    Dickson in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the election would be decided by the will of the people based on the antecedents of the contenders.

    The governor said: “Let me assure you all Bayelsans that the fear of rigging in this election, reasonable as it sounds, will not be possible. Nobody can rig this election, because the whole world will be in Bayelsa to monitor the process.

    “Your votes will count. When you vote on election day, wait and be a monitor yourself. There will be adequate security and all key federal institutions that will be saddled with the task of conducting the election such as INEC and law enforcement agencies will be fully on ground to ensure there are no hitches or give room for manipulation in favour of a particular candidate.”

    He urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to return to their initial party without further delay and join him in his re-election for the development of the state.

    Dickson said his appeal was borne out of his feelings that the defectors were being humiliated and betrayed by the state leadership of the APC.

    According to him, the defectors had been rendered onlookers in their quest for political participation and relevance.

    He said the opposition party did not represent any viable alternative to peace, unity and development of the state.

    He alleged that the APC leadership in the state had a repressive and retrogressive past, which would not serve any better purpose in the current dispensation.

    Dickson stressed that the forthcoming election was not about him, but for the greater good of the state.

     

  • Federal might won’t deliver Sylva’

    A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Chief Richard Kpodo, on Monday warned that federal might would not deliver the party’s candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, in the December 5 governorship election.

    Speaking at a news conference in Yenagoa, Kpodo, a former Chairman of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (NPDP), said that Sylva allegedly subverted the rules of the APC to become the party’s flagbearer.

    He implored President Muhammadu Buhari to keep to his promise of changing the old ways of doing things and enforce the desired change Nigerians yearn for in the interest of justice and fair play.

    Kpodo claimed that Sylva’s emergence would spell doom for the APC, saying the primary that produced the ex-governor was a charade.

    He said: “Though President Muhammadu Buhari, in his Independence Day nationwide broadcast declared that Nigerians should depart from their old ways and characters, the fraud perpetrated during the charade called primary election in Bayelsa APC was the old electoral way of ‘defrauding’ the people.

    “If the APC, Timipre Sylva and his cohorts in Abuja believe that the plot to deploy the federal might against the people of the state will deliver Sylva from failure, they are wrong.

    “The people of the state watched with renewed interest as Sylva’s fraud was executed. And they are ready to show the APC that such fraudulent change is not needed in Bayelsa. Instead, they may continue supporting the current administration in place.

    “For the Bayelsa APC to get it right, the time for the change is now. And it must start with the cancellation of the fraudulent primary conducted by Sylva and his boys.”

    Kpodo alleged that Sylva and his gang of politicians, within and outside the state, thwarted the decision of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) on the conduct of a free, fair and credible primary.

    He claimed that Sylva hijacked the process from Abuja by selecting members of the Election Committee led by Brig.-Gen Monsur Dan-Ali.

    He said that Sylva came into the state at about 11:00pm in company with the Electoral Committee members and hid them in an undisclosed area to do his bidding at a venue not known to members, particularly aspirants.

    Kpodo commended the three governorship aspirants who stood up and protested against the primary and applauded their decision to head for court to seek redress.

     

  • Bayelsa women rise against electoral violence

    Women from various communities in Bayelsa State on Monday rose against all forms of electoral violence and intimidation ahead of the December 5 governorship election in the state.

    The women and mothers, who spoke to journalists after their meeting in Yenagoa, the state capital, said they were apprehensive over the already existing political tension ahead of the election.

    The worried women, who spoke under the auspices of Women of Excellence (WE), a socio-political group formed to create a level-playing field for every Bayelsa woman, said all parties for the election should adhere to the rules of engagement.

    The Coordinator, WE, Mrs. Tari-Ere Gita said: “In recent past, Bayelsa State was smeared by violence, killings, kidnappings and cultism. State machineries were used to sponsor terrorism directed mostly at political opponents, and perceived enemies of friends of government. Many Bayelsans fled into exile in neighbouring states and far-flung places.”

    Gita, however, enjoined all the parties to pursue peace and political tolerance, insisting that the election must be held in an atmosphere of civility, law and order.

    There has been tension in the state following a threat by a group of suspected militants, the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa (MBB) to lead a 10,000-man protest against the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva.

    Sylva’s campaign organisation warned against such demonstration, blaming it on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the government.

    Despite warnings of possible breakdown of law and order which could result from the protest, MBB denied government involvement, insisting that the protest scheduled for October 14 would be peaceful.

    But Gita called on politicians to desist from heating up the polity and asked security agencies to ensure protection of lives and property before, during and after the election.

    She urged security agencies to arrest and deal with anybody promoting violence in the state.

     

  • PDP, Sylva trade words ahead of Bayelsa poll

    PDP, Sylva trade words ahead of Bayelsa poll

    … Sylva not electable – Party

    … Dickson will soon be history – Ex-governor

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayelsa State chapter, and the Campaign Organisation of Timipre Sylva, on Friday attacked each other verbally over the candidacy of the All Progressive Congress (APC) flag bearer for the December 5 governorship election.

    Sylva, who emerged the APC candidate, will slug it out with the sole candidate of the PDP and incumbent state Governor, Seriake Dickson.

    But the PDP said Sylva is not electable.

    The state Secretary of PDP, Keku Godspower, in a statement in Yenagoa on Friday, said the emergence of Sylva was a shame and insult to the collective sensibilities of people of Bayelsa and APC members.

    Keku said APC’s decision was an indication that it was not prepared for any serious outing in the election because “everybody in Bayelsa knows that Sylva is not electable.”

    He, however, claimed that since Sylva’s emergence, there was palpable fear, tension and apprehension among people of Bayelsa following the violence that marred the recent APC primary in the state.

    Keku also alleged that Sylva had a record of violence and that his second coming would not be different.

    He alleged that since the primary, the state had witnessed the influx of cultists and militants.

    He added that the development, if not checked, could lead to relapse of violence in the state and the entire Niger Delta region.

    Keku, however, said he was confident that possible violence would be contained by security agencies, assuring the people that the state would deal with anyone caught breaching the peace or molesting anyone.

    He advised Bayelsans to go about their lawful businesses without fear of intimidation, urging them to report any suspicious character to security agencies.

    He asked the people to vote for PDP and also called on the Federal Government to direct its security agencies to take urgent steps to ensure the security of lives and property in the state.

    But Sylva’s campaign organisation in a statement signed by Doifie Buokoribo, said the PDP was jittery because its candidate, Dickson, would soon become history.

    He said: “We know the PDP game plan was to prevent the emergence of a strong and popular APC governorship candidate so that they can easily repeat their trademark shenanigan of aborting democratic competition and stealing victory without a contest.

    “With that deception, they stole the mandate of the people in 2011, when both Chief Timipre Sylva and Mr. Ndutimi Alaibe were dubiously excluded just to give Hon. Henry Dickson victory without a real electoral contest.

    “All the frenzied disparagement of Sylva now by PDP is an understandable manifestation of fear and frustration over their impending, indubitable defeat at the December 5 election. That frenzy is understandable. We will make Dickson history.”