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Tag: Bayelsa State Governor

  • Dickson inaugurates 24 new special advisers

    Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, yesterday, inaugurated 24 special advisers, including a former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC)Nathaniel Ngo-Sylva.

    The appointment of Ngo-Sylva, who recently defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was said to the fulfilment of Dickson’s promise to reintegrate defectors into his government.

    Dickson, who spoke in Government House, Yenagoa, expressed his administration’s determination to appoint more youths and women into leadership positions.

    The governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Francis Agbo, said more than 90% of the new Special Advisers were youths, in line with his policy of building a critical mass of experienced future leaders.

    Dickson, who stressed the need for the elderly in the political class to create space for the young ones to assume leadership roles, said the recent appointments signalled the commencement of the renewal of the restoration government.

    While congratulating the appointees, he noted that the gesture was in recognition of the various supportive roles they played from the inception of his administration.

    He said: “We are preparing the ground for the emergence of a new set of leaders not just of this state, but of the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta. Leaders that will compete favourably with their peers from any part of the country and other parts of the world.

    “We have deliberately brought in young people even to the cabinet and we have also brought in over 20 women who are Special Advisers. Today, we are now expanding the process more, by identifying brilliant, capable, well-informed, dedicated, hardworking and loyal young leaders carefully selected from all the local government areas.

    “We have prepared the groundwork for you all to come in and get as close as possible to the inner recesses and get exposed to the intricacies and challenges and political service and leadership at this level.

    “What we want to leave behind and be known for, beyond all the investments we are making is solid base of human capital which is the most important ingredient any human society needs. No society can move forward unless it has a crop of well-informed, experienced set of leaders.”

    The Special Advisers are, Basil Kenbo, Salvation Ebena, Douye Koroye, Adokeme Godwin, Wisdom Fouyeri, Asu Ekiye, Alfred Kemepado and the Chairman, Ijaw Youth Council, Central Zone, Barrister Tari Porri.

    Also sworn in as Special Advisers are, Sinkumo Ekisah, Okobokakpo Ombu, Orufa Boloubo, Embeleakpor Apere, Prince Isiki, Richard Ibegu, Aboye Odibukuma, Vote Salem Avworharie, Victor Ebiyekon and Lumumba Lokiri Odudu.

    Others are, Ebikeme Okiringa, Preye Okoriye, Bomo Serace, Nathaniel Ngo-Sylva, Randy Emeli and Asanakpo Oyinkuro Lucky.

    Governor Dickson also inaugurated Jacob Kurobo as Secretary of the Bayelsa Volunteers.

  • Paris Club Refund: Dickson releases N5.6bn to pay salary arrears

    Paris Club Refund: Dickson releases N5.6bn to pay salary arrears

    The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, yesterday, ordered release of N5.6bn out of N14.8bn Paris Club Refund he received  in December for the payment of one and half months salary arrears owed workers during the economic recession in the country in 2016.

    It was gathered that the governor called a meeting of top government officials, labour leaders and their representatives in Yenagoa where a decision was taken to pay one and half month out of four and half months arrears owed workers.

    A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, said that the state government received N14.8bn from the Federal Government.

    The breakdown showd the state received N13.5bn while the local government councils received N1.37bn

    Dickson explained further that the outstanding arrears were a balance of half salaries he paid for seven months during the recession in 2016.

    The governor appreciated the workforce for displaying understanding during the trying period of the recession in 2016 which adversely affected the resources of the state.

    He lamented that while most of the older states in the country had lower wage bills, Bayelsa to wage bill was over N6bn because of the criminal activities of some fraudulent characters.

    The governor lamented that the wage bill remained high in spite of its low Internally Generated Revenue base which he put at N500million per month on the average.

    He added further that the recurrent burden on the state became too high because individual Bayelsa civil servants earned almost twice the income of their counterparts in other states.

    He explained that the government was making sustained efforts to also clean up the payroll mess to reduce the abominable wage bill.

    The governor said that he had always taken the issue of payment of salaries as a priority as shown by the fact that the state under his leadership did not owe workers throughout his first tenure.

    Dickson also warned that he would not tolerate any complaint of inability of the councils to pay salaries in the councils as from January, 2018.

    He stressed that the state had not deducted any money from local government funds as they had enjoyed financial autonomy from the inception of his administration.

    Dickson who said that he would not fund the councils with monies from the state government urged the leadership of the councils to have a workforce which they have the capacity to train, manage and maintain.

    According to him, the state could only come in to aid the primary school educational system.

    He said: “This January, I will not hear that any Council Chairman is not able to pay salaries. I will not also augument your salaries with state money. You are also at liberty to fire those that are not working. You employ them, you are the ones that can fire them.

    “The blackmail of blaming the state over local government inability to pay salaries should stop.

    “The councils should live within their income. We have to be clear about these things. Councils should be encouraged to retain the staff they can comfortably train, maintain and pay.”

  • Dickson condemns plot to hold parallel PDP convention

    Dickson condemns plot to hold parallel PDP convention

    The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has appealed to leaders and members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to eschew rancour and divisive tendencies that could mar the December 9 national convention of the party.

    Dickson, in a press statement by his Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Daniel Alabrah, also urged members to close ranks and put aside selfish interests in the overall interest of the party and the country’s democracy.

    “The December 9 convention of our great party offers yet another opportunity for all leaders, members and contestants for various offices to close ranks, show commitment and loyalty to the PDP as well as enhance the democratic culture of tolerance and sportsmanship,” he said.

    The governor, who was a chairman of the party’s reconciliation committee, condemned the reported plot by a group within the party to hold a parallel convention.

    He noted that the PDP already had enough crises and that there is no better time to rebuild the party than now.

    He added that Nigerians were looking up to the party to provide strong leadership, especially at this critical time in the nation’s democratic experience.

    “I call on all party leaders and aspirants for various offices to prepare for the convention. Elders and leaders of the party at all levels should also support the caretaker committee to deliver a successful convention.

    “A rancour-free convention is a sine qua non to get back to power again at the centre in 2019. So members and all contestants must subsume their individual interests in the overall interest of our party and the brighter future ahead of us,” he said.

  • Convention will determine PDP’s fate, says Dickson

    Convention will determine PDP’s fate, says Dickson

    Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, Wednesday, said the survival of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) would depend largely on the outcome of its forthcoming December 9 convention in Abuja.

    Dickson, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Francis Agbo, spoke when a PDP National Chairmanship aspirant, Chief Bode George, visited him in Government House, Yenagoa.

    The governor, however, expressed fears that the window of opportunity to reorganize the PDP to enable it confront the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019 was fast closing.

    He prayed that, the convention would be used to relaunch the party and regain the trust of Nigerians.

    He said: “I have taken certain positions in terms of what is right for the party, in terms of how best to conduct ourselves, and how fast we need to move away from the mindset of the old to new ways of conducting party business and affairs”.

    Dickson seized the opportunity to congratulate Chief George on his 72nd birthday and thanked him for offering to serve the party.

    He described George as a man with the capacity, experience and other requisite qualities to contest for the PDP National Chairmanship position.

    He noted that, the crisis that engulfed the PDP was needless and urged party leaders to be tolerant, patriotic and put aside their personal differences in the overall interest of the party and the country’s democracy.

    Dickson further called for understanding among the aspirants and prayed for the conduct of a peaceful, free, and credible convention.

    He said if well-conducted the outcome of the convention should be acceptable to all, stressing the need for all to work together to get the processes right.

    Earlier, George explained that, he was in the state to solicit the support of Governor Dickson, as well as the state’s delegates to the December 9 convention in Abuja.

    He said: “I am here because the PDP is heading very soon to elect new managers to pilot the affairs of our great party and we need an experienced, tested captain to take the ship of our party safely back to harbour”

    According to George, there was a need for the party to revisit the experiences of the past and study them with a view to avoiding the mistakes that led to the defeat of the PDP in the last general election.

    He also called on those who dumped the PDP to return to the party.

    “Those of our friends who have moved to other parties, now know they are tenants, let them come home and become landlords,” he said.

    The aspirant prayed God to continually bless the governor with strength and wisdom to pilot the affairs of the state and complete his numerous development programmes to better the lots of the people.

  • Mass sack looms as Bayelsa compiles names of payroll fraudsters

    Mass sack looms as Bayelsa compiles names of payroll fraudsters

    Panic has gripped workers in the Bayelsa State civil service following a directive by the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, that names of suspected payroll fraudsters should be compiled and removed from the system.

    The Committee of Civil Service Reforms (CCRS) set up by the governor to sanitise the public sector and clean up the payroll, was said to have received the backing of Dickson not to spare anybody indicted in the racket.

    Dickson inherited a wage bill of about N6bn when he took over the mantle of leadership in 2012 but battled to reduce it to about N3.5bn.

    A member of the committee, who spoke in confidence, said the war against the fraudulent civil service system was ongoing with ernest adding that names of the suspects were being compiled by the committee.

    Though the source refused to disclose the number of persons indicted so far, it was gathered that many civil servants had been fingered in the rackets and could be sacked and handed over to security agencies for prosecution.

    Some of the persons involved in the fraud were said to be collecting salaries simultaneously from different sources such as the local government areas, the Federal University, Otuoke and other agencies.

    It was gathered that Dickson on Monday directed his Deputy,  Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd), to ensure that those defrauding the state through multiple employments and other fraudulent activities were fished out.

    The source, who was privy to the directive, said Dickson insisted that the payroll fraud must be tackled under his administration to enable his successor inherit a sanitized system.

    He said the governor considered all the reports submitted on payroll fraud and formulate a state policy that would guide the government.

    He said: “The governor insisted that his deputy and his team should compile names of those involved and the amount of money the state will save from the eradication of the fraud.

    “The governor lamented that the fraud was rampant in the primary and secondary schools apart from the mainstream civil service and the parastatals”.

    Quoting the governor, he said: “I want us to reduce this voluminous report to a comprehensive government policy. There is need for specifics in the reports such as those who did not report for the verification exercise.

    “Who are the names being taken out; the salary component in the various places where these frauds are committed? How much will be saved from those taken out; I mean the total amount of money.

    “In the secondary and primary schools, we have two teachers and 30 non-academic staff, in some schools, we have two teachers to 15 non-academic staff. That cannot continue”.

    When contacted the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, confirmed that the governor held the meeting with the panel on civil service reforms on Monday.

    Though the commissioner failed to give details, he said that the governor was very serious about the issue of the reforms.

    “The governor will act in the interest of the citizens of the state, as it is aimed at sanitizing the system and re-positioning it for efficiency and greater productivity.

    “I know that the governor held a meeting with the various panels, the one on the civil service, the tertiary institutions, the secondary and primary schools and the local government areas.

    “All I can say for now is that this governor has the political will to take on this evil which has held down this state for long. Very soon the reforms will be made public through a special broadcast to the State by Gov. Dickson”, he said.

  • How my successor will emerge – Dickson

    How my successor will emerge – Dickson

    The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, at the weekend, hinted on the process that would lead to the emergence of his successor at the end of his second term in 2020.

    Dickson said whoever would take over from him must be a product of wide consultations, prayers and divine intervention.

    Speaking at a special prayer and thanksgiving to mark the 57 independence anniversary of Nigeria and 21st birthday of Bayelsa at the King of Glory Chapel, Government House, Yenagoa, the governor said the succession process would involve the entire state.

    But he vowed that the government would never again be returned to blackmailers, cultists and persons who ride on the blood others to occupy political positions.

    The governor particularly insisted that at the right time the state would come together for prayers to seek the face of God and beseech him to raise another team for the state.

    He asked persons jostling for political positions to take it easy and wait for the right time adding that it was too early to begin to eye the leadership of the state.

    He said: “I also remind those jostling for political positions too early to take it easy. In this state power does not come because you know how to blackmail more. It doesn’t come because you can plan with cultists to kill more people. In this state power comes only from God.

    “While it is legitimate for people to aspire or plan, the time is not yet ripe. We are still working. At the right time, we will call the state to prayers and we will consult and this God that we serve that has enabled us to stabilise our state, stopping unnecessary killing and brigandage in our state, this God that has enabled us to bring about development, this God on his own will raise the next team.

    “Tell them to cool their temper. We will pray, consult at the right time. Everybody will be carried along, then God will raise a team for us”.

    Dickson further called on the people of the state especially the elites to support and appreciate his government.

    He said his strides in different sectors especially in education where he had built many tuition-free boarding schools with free accommodation, uniforms, books and feeding for students deserved the support of the elites.

    Unfortunately, he said most times the elites only vilify his government as if they were cursed to always see nothing good in government.

    He said: “My brief plea today to all Bayelsans especially our elites, this state is not just for people to make money out of it. Our leaders should show more support and concerns about issues of development.

    “We have so much to do together. Even calling to encourage the government is important. I am calling for more cooperation, support and prayers. Continue to pray for me for wisdom, for guidance for energy and health to lead the team.

    “If you don’t wish your state well, who do you expect to wish your state well. All that the elites talk about is to bad-mouth their government and their state. It is as if that is a curse.

    “But even if it was, today, we have broken the curse. Our state needs cooperation, understanding and support. We need to show more love and encouragement”.

  • Advocates of restructuring are true patriots, says Dickson

    Advocates of restructuring are true patriots, says Dickson

    The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has described persons and groups calling for restructuring as the true patriots of Nigeria.

    The governor warned that without changing the current structure, agitations against injustices and imbalances were capable of driving the country to the point of implosion.

    The governor insisted that without sitting down to re-examine the existing structure, the country would continue to deal with eruptions of agitations from different ethnic nationalities.

    Dickson spoke at the weekend shortly after a special prayer and thanksgiving to mark the 57 independence anniversary of Nigeria and 21st birthday of Bayelsa at the King of Glory Chapel, Government House, Yenagoa.

    He said restructuring was part of the issues that informed his brand of politics and drove him to join pressure groups and associations such as the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

    He insisted that the aim of persons calling for restructuring was to promote a more stable and more prosperous country.

    Maintaining that the existing structure was not sustainable, the governor, who was accompanied to the special prayer session by members of his cabinet including his Deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd), said restructuring was different from secession.

    He said: “There is an urgent national imperative for us to review; maybe people have problems with the word restructuring. But we have to re-examine our nation’s foundation and see how we can make necessary adjustments that will promote a more stable and a more prosperous Nigeria.

    “The structure of the country as it is not sustainable. Very often, a number of our leaders misconstrue the call for restructuring to mean secession. No. Those calling for restructuring are the patriots of Nigeria because we want to lay the foundation for a Nigeria that will last for the next 50, 100, 200 years to come.

    “Most people forget that in the next 10 or 20 years this country will be one the most populous nations on the face of the earth. You can’t have that kind of high density of human population arguing every day and every time about injustices and imbalances. There will be an implosion.

    “So, it is best for us now to have a consensus. If there is any argument at all, it is how do we go about it, not whether we should attempt a restructuring or not. That to me is taken for granted”.

    Dickson praised President Muhammadu Buhari’s stance on restructuring saying the President had said he was not opposed to changing the structure to maintain the unity of the country.

    He said Bayelsa as a state, the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta were in support of restructuring adding that issues affecting different parts of the country should be tabled for discussion.

    He said:  “I am happy that the President said he is not opposed to restructuring. Our view in this state, our view that I have canvassed all my politics, our view as a state, as Ijaw nation and in the Niger Delta is that we support the call for restructuring so that we can all sit down and agree on how we can readjust our country.

    “We are Nigerians. Nobody is more Nigerian than us. Nobody is more Nigerian than a Bayelsan or a Niger Delta man. We are the people that have been sustaining this country for over 60 years.

    “Nobody has the right to question our Nigerianess. All we are saying is that we need to all sit down together, work out the issues we can agree on and address them amicably instead of having to deal with agitations every year.

    “It is giving this country a bad name and it is stopping Nigeria from realising our God-given potential as the greatest black nation on the face of the earth”.

  • ‘Dickson fulfilling dreams of Bayelsa founding fathers’

    ‘Dickson fulfilling dreams of Bayelsa founding fathers’

    The Robert Sunday Iworiso Foundation, Friday, appraised the achievements of Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, saying he had kept faith with the dreams of the state founding fathers.

    The Non-Government Organisation (NGO) established by former Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, in honour of his late father, rejoiced with Dickson and the people as Bayelsa marked 21st anniversary.

    The Director of the foundation, Chief John Alphonsus Iworiso in a statement said despite numerous challenges, Bayelsa had continued to experience rapid progress.

    The statement recalled the agitation for the creation of the state and the efforts of the founding fathers and said everyone was proud of the numerous achievements made so far by the state.

    It commended Dickson for keeping alive the dreams and visions of the founding fathers through deliberate programmes and policies that had changed the face of the state and positioned it for greatness.

    The foundation listed Dickson’s achievements as the transformation of the health sector, revival of education, revamping of Agriculture, massive investment in critical public infrastructure, amongst others.

    ‎The NGO prayed Bayelsans to rally round and support the government of the day in order to sustain the existing peace and move the state forward‎ to its deserved height.

    It condemned in strong terms those who never see anything good in what the government had done because of their self-serving agenda and urged them to put Bayelsa first.

    The statement said: “The administration of His Excellency, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson has done well in every parameter to measure performance in governance. Look at the public sector reforms, the new level of transparency and accountability and so on. As an NGO we are proud of the new things happening in the state.

    “It is therefore imperative to call on Bayelsans to join hands with the government to achieve more success. This is not about ‘I don’t like ‎the governor or I don’t belong to his party’, far from it. It is about our collective future as a people.

    “How long are we going to engage in Pull Him Down Syndrome and other acts inimical to our growth. The time has come to jettison selfish and individual interest. Politics will come and go so will leaders but our state will remain for us. God has ordained it now that it is Seriake Dickson and we must accept it so”.

  • Ijaw people most marginalised, says Dickson

    Ijaw people most marginalised, says Dickson

    The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has described Ijaw people of the Niger Delta as the most unfairly treated in the entire country.

    Dickson in a statement signed Monday by his new Chief Press Secretary, Mr, Francis Agbo, spoke when the Roland Oweilaemi-led Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) visited him in his office in Yenagoa.

    He asked the youths to continue projecting issues of economic marginalisation and environmental pollution affecting the region.

    Dickson urged them to collaborate with the government in addressing the age-long problems of underdevelopment of the Ijaw nation by successive administrations at the federal level.

    He said: “The Ijaw nation is oppressed in Nigeria, and those of us in positions should fight and protect the Ijaw interest. The weapons and strategy for the struggle must change.

    “For 60 years, there is no road to Bonny and Brass, where crude oil is lifted daily. No airport in the Ijaw nation, no oil company operating in the state pays taxes to contribute to the economy.

    “The IYC must continue to raise the legitimate issues without fear of intimidation. I expect you to mobilise and raise the consciousness of the people about the precarious situation we are in”, said the Governor.

    He lamented the state of the region despite its huge contributions to the economic growth of the nation.

    He called on political leaders and persons in positions of trust to protect the collective interest of the Ijaw people.

    But Dickson said that the struggle to emancipate the Ijaw nation was no longer about carrying weapons, “but through intellectual and persuasive means”.

    The governor regretted that there were no boarding schools and functional hospitals in Bayelsa after 20 years of its creation until his administration came and changed the narrative.

    He also appealed to the youths to shun all forms of vices, including cultism and drug abuse.

    Earlier, in his opening remarks, Oweilaemi said Dickson succeeded in giving the Ijaw nation a sense of direction, purpose and a respectable identity in the comity of ethnic nationalities.

    He called on the Federal government to allow the people of the region to establish and manage the proposed modular refineries in the region.

    He added that it is one way the people of the region would be compensated for all the degradation they had been subjected to.

    The youth leader reiterated the 90-day ultimatum to all oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to relocate their corporate headquarters to the region, in line with the directive of the federal government.

  • Dickson appoints new CPS

    Dickson appoints new CPS

    The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has rejigged his media team appointing Mr. Francis Ottah-Agbo as his new Chief Press Secretary (CPS) and a Sub-Assistant Editor of The Punch, Fidelis Soriwei, as his Special Adviser on Media Relations.

    Agbo took over from Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, who had served as CPS since 2012 until he was nominated by the governor and screened by the House of Assembly as a Commissioner-designate.

    The new CPS, who hails from Benue State, and a long-standing friend of Dickson handed over his former position in the governor’s media team to Soriwei, an Ijaw man from Ondo State, who has had successful career as a journalist.

    A Government House statement signed by the outgone CPS, Iworiso-Markson, said the governor also approved the re-assignment of Dr. John Idumangi to the newly established Directorate of Policy and Programmes as the Director-General.

    Idumangi, was until his re-assignment, the General Manager of the Bayelsa state Broadcasting Corporation, Glory Fm, 97.1, Yenagoa.

    The statement thanked Idumangi for his meritorious services to the state at various times and in different capacities.

    Idumange also received plaudits for the various reforms he carried out to reposition the radio for a more effective service delivery and the dissemination of government’s policies and programmes.

    In his place, Dickson approved the appointment of Mr. Tari Febabor, as the new General Manager of the State Broadcasting Corporation.

    Febabor previously served as the Deputy General Manager of the corporation.