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Tag: Dickson

  • Who wants to stone Dickson?

    Who wants to stone Dickson?

    bayelsa State was once described by Governor Seriake Dickson as the headquarters of rumour in Nigeria. To counter what he viewed as the ugly consequences of rumour-mongering , Dickson set up the Bayelsa State Information Management Committee. But despite the activities of the committee, a disturbing rumour has refused to depart the political scene – the stoning of the governor.

    It has become an open secret that there is a plot to stone the governor at the forthcoming Presidential rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Yenagoa. Though it sounded unbelievable, persons said to be behind the plot were alleged to have constituted “a stoning committee” made up of angry youths to work out the modalities.

    The Government House is not taking the matter lying low. In fact, members of Dickson’s team are aware that stoning is a possibility that cannot be wished away. They are  doing everything possible to stop unleashing such public opprobrium on the countryman governor. They were amusingly said to have also established an “anti-stoning committee” to counter any stoning eventuality.

    Indeed, people have every reason to take the matter seriously. Stoning the highest public personage in Bayelsa is not new. It was an ugly condemnable precedent that entered the political space of the state in 2011. Former Governor  Timipre Sylva got huge dose of the ill-treatment that year when Jonathan came for a similar rally in Yenagoa.

    In the presence of Jonathan and other PDP bigwigs, youths believed to have been hired turned stones, sachet water and  other objects within their reach into missiles and hurled them at Sylva while he stood on a podium to address the gathering. They treated their governor with ignominy and washed their dirty linen in a public event that was beamed live on national television. It was a worrisome development that rattled and hunted the governor and his cabinet.

    In fact, beyond the stoning, the taciturn posture of the President worried everybody. President Jonathan said nothing to condemn the public embarrassment visited on Sylva. He kept sealed lips and saw nothing wrong with the stone revolution.

    Eventually, when he spoke, his statement which gave approval to stoning as a sign of public rejection startled everybody. His remarks came about one year after Sylva’s public harassment, during the final governorship rally of PDP that ushered in Dickson. The President did not just support stoning, he promised to partake in it if Dickson failed and the people decided to give him the Sylva treatment.

    He proudly alluded to the stoning and claimed that the former governor’s style of leadership and poor performance compelled the people of the state to hurl missiles at him (Sylva) during one of his presidential visits.

    He turned to Dickson and said: “You have brought people from Abuja to Yenagoa today. The only thing I want to tell you in the presence of Bayelsa State is that I was here in this place some months ago and Bayelsans stoned the governor. You must work hard to make sure that Bayelsans don’t stone you. The day I come here and Bayelsans stone you, I will follow and stone you.”

    The President’s outburst and public endorsement of stoning surprised everybody. Maybe he must regretted the endorsement recently after similar treatment was meted  him in some northern states during his ongoing campaign to retain his office.

    But everybody who remembered his stoning approval is worried and that is why the Dickson’s team is said to be preparing for such possibility at rally. Though nobody knows the anti-stoning strategy being adopted, some said the governor was making a plan to install cameras all over the Samson Siasia Sports Complex where the rally is scheduled to hold. This, they argue, will help the security agencies fish out the agents of stoning if it eventually happens.

    In fact, the anticipation of such ill treatment became rife recently after the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa (MBB) raised it as a poser in their press release which reportedly barred the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan from accompanying her husband to the event.

    Condemning the silence of the President over the excesses of his wife in the state, the group queried: “Is President Goodluck Jonathan using this as a ploy to join Bayelsa youths to stone Governor Dickson as promised by the President during his presidential campaign in 2011 and subsequently to oust Dickson’s administration since he could hardly rebuke his wife in several of her political atrocities?”

    Furthermore, the cold shoulder the governor has been receiving from the Presidency is a suspect. Recently trending on Facebook is an unconfirmed report of an alleged rude treatment the governor received at Aso Rock Villa from security operatives attached to the President.

    The governor has been battling the overtures of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), a campaign group of Jonathan which has practically hijacked the activities of PDP in the state. TAN is believed to be working for Mrs. Jonathan to undermine Dickson.

    Reacting to the development, the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Mr. Udens Eradiri, denounced the rumour that the governor could be a victim of stoning. He said:  “The President will be here on February 6th and we are already hearing rumours that some people will stone some people. Any iota of satchet water or stone will crumble Mr. President chances and Ijaw people must note that that day is supposed to be a day of celebration, dancing. Everybody must come out to support our own.

    “You saw what they did  for Buhari in Kano and you will see what they will do when he goes back home for his final campaign. That is what we must show. Let us forget our differences and come out. The TAN people should note that we know all those meetings that they are holding.

    “If they are actually working for the a President, everybody will be on the same vessel. I am a non-partisan person and I stand in the middle. If any of them go wrong I will always tell them. As IYC President at the end of the day, they will pit youths against themselves. When they will sit down as politicians to drink champagne, the enmity of the youths will continue. My duty is to ensure that these youths are not used as pawns in a chess game.”

    Eradiri further regretted the Cold War involving TAN, the First Lady and Dickson. “We can’t pretend about it. There is a Cold War going on. There is the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria. (TAN) that is made up of the loyalists of the former governor of the state who were not in good terms with the President. They have never been happy with the President.

    “And so their conduct is actually creating so much problems for the President’s reelection. I wonder who set that thing up knowing fully well that these are the people who are not on the side of the governor and they are not also on the side of the President. Now, their principal is in the opposition abusing the President and challenging the President and you now mop up these same people into a TAN in order for them to deliver the President. No. They won’t do that.

    “So, there is no sincerity of purpose. I have made it clear before and I am still saying it.TAN in Bayelsa is purposely put together to create conflict for the President and also to cause commotion in the state so that there cannot be that synergy. I support the proscription of TAN in Bayelsa in as much as I do not support the way it was put together”, he said.

    He also partly blamed the political crisis in Bayelsa on the President. He said: “I think that the President is not doing enough. The President who head or tail is the one that will lose or gain should have had his own machinery of ensuring that his house is intact. I blame the President for it and that is why we are warning that our political capital is about to be squandered by their actions and inactions. I condemn what they are doing. It is not called for.

    “But if you look at it there is no governor that will accept what TAN is doing and what other aides of the President is doing in Bayelsa. It is the aides of the President who say that they are working for the President that put up this TAN knowing fully well that the people there are the people who don’t want to see the President.

    “It, therefore,  means that the people working around the President that set up this TAN in Bayelsa are the people against the President and the bulk stops on the table of Mr. President. To sit down and allow these things to snowball into what it is gradually getting to now affecting 100 per cent vote from Bayelsa for the President. And you know when we don’t have 100 per cent from Bayelsa it begins to send a negative signal to the opposition and other parts of the country.”

    But TAN has since denied undermining the governor. It said the group would work with the governor to ensure the re-election of the President.

    Undoubtedly as everybody waits to see how the home rally of the President will turn out, the crack team of the governor is working round the clock to gather intelligence on the possibility that Dickson may be stoned.

  • Dickson 100 per cent in support of Jonathan, says PDP

    Dickson 100 per cent in support of Jonathan, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayelsa State chapter, has declared that the Governor Seriake Dickson is 100 per cent in support of the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The party spoke while reacting to an advertorial questioning the loyalty of Dickson for Jonathan by a group under the aegis of the Niger Delta United for Jonathan (NDUJ).

    PDP, in a statement signed by its state Chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd), described the contents of the advertorial as fallacies and product of a faceless group.

    He said the party would not have joined issues with the non-existing group had the group made its allegations at normal times.

    “However, these are no ordinary times. We cannot pretend to be ignorant of the reality that with the increasing desperation of the opposition at the national and state levels- there is no telling how low certain elements will stop in order to satisfy their paymasters”, he said.

    He said as a responsible state chapter of the largest political party in Africa, the Bayelsa PDP would not allow a few jesters to deceive party faithful and the general public that political leaders were at war.

    He said: “These opposition elements apparently think they can exploit the liberty of running to the media with tales of an imaginary crisis to drive a wedge between Her Excellency, Dame Patience Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson. They are dead wrong.

    “We in Bayelsa PDP are way too informed to be ignorant of the devices of the opposition. As a people-oriented party, we want to assure the general public that the state is peaceful, united and solidly behind our amiable governor.”

    Urging the public to disregard reports of crisis in the state, Inokoba said no amount of blackmail, mudslinging or propaganda against the governor could set him on collision course with Mr. President and the first family.

    He said the first family is wiser than the antics of the opposition and the objectives of such campaign of calumny.

    “The loyalty of our dear governor to Mr. President and the PDP is without par. We are proud to say that Governor Dickson’s enviable records in the past three years are a testimonial to what good leadership is all about.

    “Governor Dickson has, beyond doubt, provided the desired leadership for PDP in the state. He has tirelessly, successfully and satisfactorily mobilized people within and outside Bayelsa State for Mr. President’s re-election on February 14, 2015.

    “So intimidated is the opposition by Governor Dickson’s rising profile that they have resorted to scratching and clawing at everything, thinking such would dent his sterling performance.

    “Mr. Governor, we in Bayelsa PDP thank you and urge you to disregard such annoying agencies. We urge you to continue to work as you have always done to ensure that we celebrate on February 14 and beyond.”

  • Group accuses Dickson of sponsoring attacks against Jonathan’s wife

    Group accuses Dickson of sponsoring attacks against Jonathan’s wife

    A group, the Bayelsa Renaissance Movement (BRM), on Friday accused the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, of spending the state funds to sponsor media attacks against the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.

    The group expressed dismay that Dickson was attacking Mrs, Jonathan despite her contributions to his election in 2012.

    But reacting to the allegations, Governor Dickson, through a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Iworiso-Markson, refuted the claim and distanced self from threats against the first lady, vowing to deal with troublemakers.

    BRM in a statement signed by its President, Mieton Charlse Labiri, claimed that Mrs. Jonathan was never involved in the alleged plot to unseat the governor in 2016.

    Labiri said: “Dame Jonathan is not associated with any political evil, either in Bayelsa State or Nigeria. From her little corner, she galvanised support for Hon.Seriake Dickson in 2011/2012 to emerge as the governor. It is quite sad that the same man is today expending millions of state fund to sponsor media attacks against her.”

    Labiri spoke following warnings issued to the president’s wife by youth groups to leave Dickson alone and steer clear of Bayelsa politics.

    It will be recalled that the Bayelsa Youth Vanguard (BYV) and the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa (MBB) recently threatened to disgrace Mrs. Jonathan if she accompanies her husband to the presidential rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled for Yenagoa on February 4.

    But Labiri blamed all the verbal attacks and threats against the first lady on Dickson accusing him of sponsoring them.

    He, however, urged Mrs. Jonathan to overlook “all the accusations and sponsored insults” against her and accept them as price of her leadership.

  • Dickson and ex-militants’ threats

    SIR: Reading through the newspapers of January 25, I was shocked that Governor of Bayelsa State, Dickson Seriake, assembled the Niger Delta ex-militants at the Government House, not to ask them to peacefully work for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, but to threaten the rest of Nigerians that should Jonathan fail to win the election, they would return to the creeks. This is totally unacceptable. The group also said that they will retaliate the ‘attack’ Jonathan’s campaign rally received in Katsina and Bauchi states.

    Governor Seriake and Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State are both of same party, the PDP. Governor Yuguda in all sincerity confirmed that it was PDP supporters that pelted objects on President Jonathan and his entourage at their recent rally in Bauchi. Unfortunately Governor Shema of Katsina State kept mute on who actually perpetrated the Katsina act. Information filtering has it that it was the handiwork of PDP members who felt sidelined.

    Widely reported in the media was an appeal by General Buhari to all APC supporters not to take laws into their hands by causing any disaffection at the PDP presidential campaign rallies. Furthermore, the governor of Borno State personally signed a press statement urging Borno people not to do anything negative to the entourage of President Jonathan. We are all witnesses to the fact that Jonathan had a peaceful rally in Borno State. When Buhari came to Bayelsa, he had an issue-based campaign.

    These truths should be enough for Governor Seriake to caution his people on the planned retaliation. Therefore it beats one’s imagination that Governor Dickson could assemble and urge the ex-militants to employ violence should Jonathan fail to win.

    I would rather the governor address the heat that the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is giving him. Governor Dickson sacked some of his aides suspected to be stooges of the First Lady. A group that is supposed to be campaigning for Jonathan’s re-election was banished from the state by the governor just because of Dame Patience. Dame in retaliation has urged the group to flood Yenagoa streets with campaign posters for one of her supporters for governorship of Bayelsa State slated for 2016. What an irony!

    Governor Dickson has earlier advised Jonathan not to campaign in Bayelsa as that would amount to waste of time and resources, even when he had disbanded a group campaigning for the President’s re-election? Things are cooking over there in Bayelsa.

    Dame Jonathan’s town, Okirirka, has witnessed two different attacks with explosives against the opposition, APC. The first was the bombing of the APC secretariat in Okirika and the other was last Saturday’s bombing of campaign ground of the APC Rivers State governorship rally.

    If one may ask; why is it so difficult for President Jonathan to caution his wife?

     

    • Chief Allagoa George,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Dickson, TAN and First Lady

    The Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), a campaign group for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid, is enmeshed in controversies with Governor Seriake Dickson.

    Keen observers expected TAN and the government to work harmoniously on the Jonathan project. TAN, at the national level, is known for its passionate and fierce campaign for Jonathan’s re-election. The group is believed to have been founded to explore, expound and express the benefits of the President’s Transformation Agenda.

    Dickson is not only the kinsman of Mr. President, he is also a Jonathanian advocate who from the inception of his administration vowed to pursue Ijaw national interest with the protection and projection of Jonathan’s Presidency the key element of the Ijaw affairs. In words and deeds, people believe that Dickson has not deviated from his averred support for the President.

    Despite similarities of purpose, TAN and Dickson have been living like cat and mouse Where then is the missing link? In fact, the subject of acrimony is  the fate of the Creek Haven, sobriquet for the state’s Government House, in 2016. The governorship election holds in the state in 2016 and it is expected that the governor will be seeking a reelection.

    There are reasons within the state government to believe that TAN has an ulterior motive in Bayelsa beyond the purpose of galvanising support for Jonathan’s reelection in February. The group is said to be working to ensure that the governor does not return to the Creek Haven. The group’s body language is also confirming the suspicions of the governor and his camp.

    First, was the sudden entrance of the group into a state considered by many people as lacking meaningful opposition to challenge Jonathan’s reelection. Curiously, the group has started gaining ground and setting up permanent structures in the state. Already, it has secured an edifice as its secretariat along the Isaac Boro Expressway in Yenagoa. The group is also making plans to inaugurate the secretariat.

    If the reelection of the President is the reason for TAN’s coming into the state, what then does it need a permanent structure for a secretariat especially considering the fact that the Presidential election is next month? This is the question agitating the minds of the camp of Dickson.

    Besides, the camp of the governor also reasons that TAN’s agenda in the state is a suspect following the sudden change in the group’s leadership structure.

    Initially, when Jonathan’s re-election was its only mission, the group was headed by the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Local Government Commission and former Speaker of the old Rivers State House of Assembly, Chief Talford Ongolo. But Ongolo and some loyalists of the governor woke up one day to discover that they had been unceremoniously stripped of their functions.

    The restructuring of TAN’s leadership undoubtedly became an issue and fueled the existing suspicion. Matters came to a head when it was reported that the interest and ambition of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, was the reason behind TAN’s rebirth.

    Dame Patience is said to have an ambition to remove Dickson and replace him with her friend and domestic aide to the President, Mr. Waripamowei Dudafa.

    Her sudden resignation as a super Permanent Secretary in the state’s civil service, her alleged influence in the posting of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Valentine Ntomchukwu, to the state and her other underground activities are said to be geared towards realizing this ambition.

    Therefore, TAN is said to be the first lady’s vehicle to drive her Dickson-must-go ambition. On this premise, TAN is suspected to be repositioning itself for the task of leading anti-Dickson’s campaigns, formulating and executing strategies to outsmart the governor and kick him out of his seat.

    Since the TAN imbroglio started, there has been sharp division in the state chapter of PDP. Opponents and enemies of the governor have run to TAN to form a formidable force with the First Lady against Dickson. The group is now headed by the First Lady’s associate and former deputy Governor, Chief Werinipre Seibarugu.

    The governor issued a pack-and-go order to TAN. Before pronouncing the order, the governor had accused TAN of subversion. But TAN fired back at the governor  saying he lacked the powers to order its exit from the state. It is only hoped that the gladiators will not use the innocent blood of the masses to settle their political scores.

    • This piece was first published last week.

     

  • Dickson: A governor and his many troubles

    Dickson: A governor and his many troubles

    Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, takes a look at Governor Seriake Dickson’s challenges over President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in February and his own re-election bid as governor next year

    THIS is certainly not the best of times for Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State. Observers of the politics of President Goodluck Jonathan’s homestate fear that the former House of Representatives member may be denied a second term ticket by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) next year unless his relationship with some prominent chieftains of the party, especially Patience Jonathan, Nigeria’s First Lady, improves.

    The Nation learnt that there are fresh moves by loyalists of the first family to thwart the re-election bid of the governor following allegations that he may have resolved to rid his administration of loyalists of the First Lady. According to reliable sources, the move against Dickson may come in two folds. “One, immediately after the February elections, efforts would be made to get him impeached before the expiration of his term. Secondly, should that fail, everything would be done to prevent him from getting a second term ticket,” a source said.

    Trouble, The Nation gathered, started again for Dickson after he sacked two of his aides, believed to be loyalists of Dame Patience Jonathan, and also pronounced a ban on the activities of TAN in Bayelsa State ahead of the 2015 general election.

    As if to further estrange himself from the Jonathans, Dickson had last week sacked two of his aides, Mrs. Marie Ebikake and Chief Remi Kuku, the state commissioner for local government and special adviser on Federal Government Projects respectively, in controversial circumstances. While the government said the sack of the duo has nothing to do with politics or disagreement between the governor and anybody, his critics insist the move was vindictive and politically motivated.

    The two, The Nation learnt, were members of the Governor Dickson administration that participated in the reception to welcome Dame Patience Jonathan to Otuoke community ahead of the wedding ceremony of the president’s foster daughter, Miss. Inebai Paul and Dr. Simeon Onyemaechi at Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.

    “They participated in the reception in spite of a blanket order asking all political appointees to shun the Nigeria First Lady due to a similar rebuff earlier extended to the governor and his wife, Dr. Rachel Dickson by the First Lady. This is the reason for their dismissal from the government. With this action, the governor has shown that he is no longer loyal to the PDP,” a source said.

    Since news broke that the governor may have fallen out of favor with the First Lady some months back, it has become a case of one week, one trouble for Dickson. And with these problems came a plethora of challenges, posing serious threats to his quest for a second term in 2016.

    He has been accused of romancing the opposition party by fellow PDP chieftains. He has also been accused of not showing enough commitment to the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan. The governor has also been chided for being disrespectful to the President’s wife amongst his many sins for which it appears there are no forgiveness.

    Defending his decision to sack the two aides, Dickson accused the women and many other chieftains of the PDP in the state, including former state deputy governor, Hon. Werinipreye Seibarugu, of planning to discredit the state government and Bayelsa State chapter of the PDP’s effort to ensure the re-election of Jonathan.

    The governor accused Seibarugu and members of the pro-Jonathan group, the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) of fanning the embers of division in the state while pretending to be more committed to Jonathan’s re-election campaign than Dickson and his loyalists.

    According to Dickson, the immediate past deputy governor of the state, Seibarugu, Ebikake and Kuku and their supporters, while operating under the aegis of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, rallied senior members of the previous administration in the state to engage and promote the politics of subversion and needless divisions amongst the women and other groups, who were mobilised to attend and honour the President on the occasion of the traditional marriage of his niece.

    Governor Seriake Dickson accused politicians of creating divisions among the women, mostly to serve their own selfish interest and personal aggrandizement other than that of TAN. “Mrs. Kuku did not only create division among the women, but displayed total disrespect for senior officials of the Bayelsa State Government by her actions and this can no longer be condoned in a disciplined set up like the Restoration Government”.

    “It is important to state for the records, especially at this period of heightened political activities that, while politicians and groups are free to set up campaign structures to promote their personal, political aspirations and canvas for votes from the electorates; they must do so within the confines of the law.

     These should not in any way amount to destabilisation of the state. Security agencies in the state must be alive to their constitutional roles and duties to protect the security and stability of the state”.

    Apart from his alleged face off with the First Lady, the governor is also in a running battle with chieftains of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), a group supporting the re-election aspiration of the President. Supporters of the governor argue that the TAN leaders are being used by the First Lady to unsettle the governor and the state chapter of the PDP.

    Dickson had slammed the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, saying the group has no business in the state which is a PDP stronghold and as such should move to states where the opposition holds sway to mobilise support for the PDP. The governor had accused TAN of promoting subversive activities and inciting crisis within the PDP in the state.

    The governor, while mobilising Bayelsans from all the local government areas in the state to rally support for President Jonathan’s re-election bid, called on groups such as TAN and others in Bayelsa State, putting up campaign structures for the President, other than the PDP, to take their activities to states where the opposition is presently enjoying greater control.

    A statement signed by Daniel Iwariso-Markson, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, claimed that the groups were only brewing crisis in Bayelsa. “Those claiming to be campaigning for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan but are instead engaged in promoting subversive activities and inciting crisis and division within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state will have to move their activities elsewhere,” it said.

    The governor, who enjoined all groups and individuals to queue behind him as the leader of the party in the state, alleged that TAN and some members of its top hierarchy have become tools of subversion, creating needless rancour, acrimony and division. He said the state government will no longer tolerate their actions.

    Dickson added that “The activities of TAN and the other groups, if not checked, could be counter-productive, especially with the presidential and other elections, only a few weeks away, adding that he has the mandate of Bayelsans to protect the stability, peace and security of the state.”

    But TAN, in a statement in Yenagoa, insisted that the governor has no constitutional right to ask any group to leave the state. The group, which only came short of accusing the governor of anti-party activities, said it will not be dictated for by anybody on how to carry out its activities in support of the Jonathan 2015 aspiration.

    A statement issued in Yenagoa on Saturday and signed by Nathan Egba, TAN’s director of publicity, the political group said the governor’s directive was regrettable. He insisted that Dickson lacked the constitutional powers to enforce the ban on TAN’s activities in Bayelsa.”

    TAN urged its members and supporters to remain resolute and focused in order to ensure President Jonathan’s success in the presidential election scheduled for mid-February.

    Responding to accusation of plot to unseat the governor, Egba said TAN is a socio-political organisation set up to inform and mobilise the people of Nigeria towards the re-election of the president, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in 2015 and therefore not out to unseat the state governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson.

    According to him, “TAN has nothing whatsoever to do with any plot to unseat the Bayelsa governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson. The group was established to publicise the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan. There is no member of the Bayelsa TAN that is working against the administration of Governor Dickson in the state.”

    Expressing concern over the situation in the state, a socio-political group, Bayelsa Youth for Peace Initiatives and Good Governance, recently warned political office seekers and their cronies within and outside the state against heating up the polity. The organisatio which specifically expressed dismay over the alleged ‘frosty relationship’ between Governor Seriake Dickson and the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan over 2015-16 elections, said it will start mobilizing youths against disgruntled politicians fanning the embers of discord.

    A statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by the President of BYP, Charles

    Ebi, stated that there is a cordial relationship between President Goodluck Jonathan, his wife and Governor Dickson.

    He said, “Governor Dickson is a notable member of the Green Movement;

    President Goodluck Jonathan campaign organization, then as governor. Also,

    as the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Justice, Hon. Dickson was one of the leading campaigners for the enthronement of President Jonathan as Acting President and his subsequent election as President.

    ‘At different fora, the governor had made it known to the people, his love and support for President Jonathan and his family. Recently, Hon. Dickson as a leader of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) in the state led other members of the party in the state in endorsing the President for the second term.

    ‘As a true democrat, he has warned the people against politics of name

    dropping, blackmail and propaganda, arguing that it is against democratic norms. Leadership is about service delivery not name dropping, as we are currently experiencing in the state.”

    In spite of efforts by both parties to shroud the crisis in secrecy perhaps to douse the effect on the forthcoming general elections, pundits say Dickson may be in for a tough time when he eventually rolls out his re-election bid next year.

  • Dickson, TAN and First Lady

    The Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), a campaign group for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid, is enmeshed in controversies with Governor Seriake Dickson.

    Keen observers expected TAN and the government to work harmoniously on the Jonathan project. TAN, at the national level, is known for its passionate and fierce campaign for Jonathan’s re-election. The group is believed to have been founded to explore, expound and express the benefits of the President’s Transformation Agenda.

    Dickson is not only the kinsman of Mr. President, he is also a Jonathanian advocate who from the inception of his administration vowed to pursue Ijaw national interest with the protection and projection of Jonathan’s Presidency the key element of the Ijaw affairs. In words and deeds, people believe that Dickson has not deviated from his averred support for the President.

    Despite similarities of purpose, TAN and Dickson have been living like cat and mouse Where then is the missing link? In fact, the subject of acrimony is  the fate of the Creek Haven, sobriquet for the state’s Government House, in 2016. The governorship election holds in the state in 2016 and it is expected that the governor will be seeking a reelection.

    There are reasons within the state government to believe that TAN has an ulterior motive in Bayelsa beyond the purpose of galvanising support for Jonathan’s reelection in February. The group is said to be working to ensure that the governor does not return to the Creek Haven. The group’s body language is also confirming the suspicions of the governor and his camp.

    First, was the sudden entrance of the group into a state considered by many people as lacking meaningful opposition to challenge Jonathan’s reelection. Curiously, the group has started gaining ground and setting up permanent structures in the state. Already, it has secured an edifice as its secretariat along the Isaac Boro Expressway in Yenagoa. The group is also making plans to inaugurate the secretariat.

    If the reelection of the President is the reason for TAN’s coming into the state, what then does it need a permanent structure for a secretariat especially considering the fact that the Presidential election is next month? This is the question agitating the minds of the camp of Dickson.

    Besides, the camp of the governor also reasons that TAN’s agenda in the state is a suspect following the sudden change in the group’s leadership structure.

    Initially, when Jonathan’s re-election was its only mission, the group was headed by the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Local Government Commission and former Speaker of the old Rivers State House of Assembly, Chief Talford Ongolo. But Ongolo and some loyalists of the governor woke up one day to discover that they had been unceremoniously stripped of their functions.

    The restructuring of TAN’s leadership undoubtedly became an issue and fueled the existing suspicion. Matters came to a head when it was reported that the interest and ambition of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, was the reason behind TAN’s rebirth.

    Dame Patience is said to have an ambition to remove Dickson and replace him with her friend and domestic aide to the President, Mr. Waripamowei Dudafa.

    Her sudden resignation as a super Permanent Secretary in the state’s civil service, her alleged influence in the posting of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Valentine Ntomchukwu, to the state and her other underground activities are said to be geared towards realizing this ambition.

    Therefore, TAN is said to be the first lady’s vehicle to drive her Dickson-must-go ambition. On this premise, TAN is suspected to be repositioning itself for the task of leading anti-Dickson’s campaigns, formulating and executing strategies to outsmart the governor and kick him out of his seat.

    Since the TAN imbroglio started, there has been sharp division in the state chapter of PDP. Opponents and enemies of the governor have run to TAN to form a formidable force with the First Lady against Dickson. The group is now headed by the First Lady’s associate and former deputy Governor, Chief Werinipre Seibarugu.

    The governor issued a pack-and-go order to TAN. Before pronouncing the order, the governor had accused TAN of subversion. But TAN fired back at the governor  saying he lacked the powers to order its exit from the state. It is only hoped that the gladiators will not use the innocent blood of the masses to settle their political scores.

     

  • Dickson: we don’t need ‘agents of division’ TAN in Bayelsa

    Dickson: we don’t need ‘agents of division’ TAN in Bayelsa

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has said the state does not need the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN).

    Dickson accused its members, led by a former Deputy Governor, Mr. Werinipre Seibarugu, of being agents of division and subversion.

    Speaking at the weekend at the inauguration of the 120-member Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Presidential Campaign Team, Dickson insisted that TAN was not needed in the state.

    But TAN, in a statement by its Director, Publicity, Chief Nathan Egba, said the governor had no powers to send any group out of the state.

    The governor asked TAN to take its campaigns to states enjoying greater control of the opposition.

    He said TAN and similar groups should not dissipate their energy campaigning for President in his home state.

    He assured that the state would give the PDP bulk votes in the forthcoming elections.

    The governor explained that the 120 membership of the committee was constituted to effectively coordinate the activities of the election of President Jonathan.

    Ironically, the governor named Seibarugu a member of the committee, though he was absent at the inauguration ceremony.

  • TAN dares Dickson: you can’t ban us from Bayelsa

    TAN dares Dickson: you can’t ban us from Bayelsa

    The Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) yesterday fired back at the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, saying he lacked the powers to order its exit from the state.

    TAN, the main campaign group of President Goodluck Jonathan, also condemned a statement issued by the Bayelsa Youth Vanguard (BYV) barring the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, from accompanying her husband to campaign in the state.

    The group in statement signed in Yenagoa by its state Director, Publicity, Chief Nathan Egba, expressed shock and disbelief at the pack-and-go order emanating from the governor.

    TAN also reassured the governor of its readiness to cooperate with his government in campaigning for President Jonathan’s reelection in the state.

    “We are shocked because we find it hard to understand how an elected Governor of a State would make such a statement in a democratic setting, as we have in Nigeria, as there is nowhere in the Nigerian Constitution that gives any governor such powers.

    “TAN in Bayelsa is however, aware of plots by some over-zealous Government officials to portray groups such as TAN, Women For Change Initiative and others in very bad light, in order to make it appear as if they are against the State Government.

    “In the same vein, we re-assure our teeming members and supporters not to worry, but rather remain resolute and focused as the Presidential election is less than a month from now”, the statement said.

    Frowning on the threat by a youth group barring Dame Patience from attending the forthcoming February 5th Presidential campaign in the state, TAN said such threat was unfortunate.

    “TAN, while strongly condemning the threat by the group ,said the statement by the group is unwarranted. The TAN said it is the believe of the group that such probe will expose those behind the shame act, but will also serve to deter others who might want to toes the same line.

    “We have noticed that since alleged cold war between the State Government and the First Lady, became a topic for public discourse, more individual and groups in the state have become emboldened to make statement that are clearly disrespectful to the office and person of the First Lady.

    “The recent sack from the State Executive Council of associates of the first lady such  as the former Commissioner for Local Government, Mrs. Marie Ebikake and the former Special Adviser to the Governor on Federal Projects, Chief Remi Kuku, who is also the Deputy National coordinator of the First Lady’s NGO, Women For Change Initiative did not help matters.

    “In addition to the above, the TAN State Director of Logistics, Chief Abel Ebifemowei has been removed from his post as Chairman of the State Environmental Sanitation Authority, as well as a top Civil Servant Mrs. Irene Digitemie who has also been recommended for retirement for allegedly associating with the Women for Change  Initiative group.

  • Dickson to opponents: don’t heat up polity

    Dickson to opponents: don’t heat up polity

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson yesterday warned governorship hopefuls to “wait for the right time”.

    The governor said it was irresponsible for people to heat up the polity over a governorship election that would hold next year.

    Dickson spoke following indications that a camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the President’s wife, Dame Patience Jonathan,  was strategising to kick him out of office.

    The governor, who spoke at the 47th State Executive Council meeting in a Yenagoa, urged his opponents to dissipate their energy on the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    He said the president’s re-election should be the preoccupation of all members of the party instead of promoting divisive and selfish tendencies.

    Dickson urged politicians to have a rethink and unite with members of the Restoration Team to mobilise support for Jonathan.

     He said: “In this state, we don’t have governorship elections early; the earliest time nomination processes will start, by my reckoning, will be August/September or maybe even later than that; then the general election may hold about November/December.

    “So, all the people that are flexing muscles are doing so at the wrong time.  And, their aim clearly is to distract us, but we will remain focused.  At the right time, our politics will commence.

    “For the past three years, we have been working without playing politics.  I still will like us to try and keep it that way. For those desperate elements, who think that Bayelsa should go back to those days of needless divisions and rancour, I want to advise them that they should all stay focused and work with us to deliver on the presidential election.”