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Tag: Seriake Dickson

  • Dickson urges police, senator to end feud

    Dickson urges police, senator to end feud

    Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, on Tuesday lamented the prolonged feud between the police and Senator Isa Misau over alleged corruption.

    Dickson, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the allegations were unhealthy and antithetical to the image of the senator and the police.

    Misau, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Navy, alleged that the Ins‎pector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, received gratification from corporate organizations in exchange for security.

    The police responded by declaring the senator a deserter for leaving the force to contest an election without following due process or getting the right permission.

    ‎But Dickson expressed concern over the controversy, saying it was capable of ridiculing public institutions by portraying the Senate and the police in bad light.

    Describing the two institutions as critical and sacred, the governor insisted that such crisis of confidence could undermine the police and the Senate.

    While calling on Misau to withdraw his allegations against the police, the governor also asked the police to restrain from making further statements on the matter or taking further action against the senator.

    The governor observed that the police had many problems that required the support of all stakeholders including serving and former officers.

    He said such support would help motivate men and officers of the police force “who are underfunded but doing a difficult job in a difficult situation to safeguard the country.”

    Dickson said: ”Those of us who have passed through the force have a duty to work with the police to make it strong and better. ‎Those of us who have been in and out of uniform owe the organisation the support that it desires from people who have had the privilege to serve the police.

    “On no account should we denigrate the police for what we owe the police is support to enable it overcome the multifarious problems confronting the force which in my opinion is a critical institution of state.”

    Dickson also confirmed that he had returned from his vacation after enjoying deserved rest and attending to personal matters.

    The statement said the governor as required by law had transmitted a letter to the State House of Assembly through the Speaker, Mr. Konbowei Benson, to notify the lawmakers of his resumption.

    He thanked his Deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd), for effectively standing in for him as Acting Governor during the period of his absence.

    He also thanked other members of his cabinet for working tirelessly for the good of the state.

     

     

  • Dickson begins vacation

    Dickson begins vacation

    Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, on Monday began his annual vacation.

    A statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said Governor Dickson decided to rest after a busy work schedule.

    The statement said: “The Governor is expected to use the period of his vacation to rest, after a busy schedule of duties both within and outside the state, especially his role as Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Reconciliation Committee, among others.”

    The statement quoted the governor as calling on Bayelsans to remain steadfast in their prayers and support for programmes and policies of his administration.

    “He also called for the sustenance of the existing peace and stability in the state to allow the various developmental projects of the government progress unhindered.

    “Dickson said the administration remained focus on its agenda to move the state to the next level in all its ramifications,” it added.

    But the statement was silent on the resumption date of the governor and where he would be spending his vacation.

     

  • Gowon opens N3.3bn Bayelsa Govt. House

    Gowon opens N3.3bn Bayelsa Govt. House

    A former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon,  on Wednesday performed the official opening ceremony of the new Bayelsa Government House, Yenagoa,  built at the cost of N3.3 billion.

    On the occasion, Gowon commended Gov. Seriake Dickson for the development strides of his administration.

    “I must congratulate the governor on the structures that I have seen, especially on his new office complex.

    “I urge you to continue to do the good work; your commitment to development is for the well-being of the citizens.

    “To the people of the state, I must say that you have been supportive to the governor irrespective of the party you belong.

    “I urge you to always play the good role for the betterment of the state,” Gowon said.

    In his remark, Dickson expressed appreciation to Gowon and noted that infrastructure development were a priority for his administration.

    “We are not just building structures like roads, bridges but a solid and befitting infrastructure that will serve for a long period of time.

    “We embark on massive infrastructural development, especially on roads because we know its importance to mankind.

    “Finally, I thanked everyone, especially the former head of state and the entire people of Bayelsa for all the support,” the governor said.

    Gowon had earlier interacted with traditional rulers in the state at Bayelsa Traditional Rulers Council Secretariat in Yenagoa.

  • Osun senatorial poll: Dickson congratulates Adeleke, hails APC

    Osun senatorial poll: Dickson congratulates Adeleke, hails APC

    • Says APC provided level-playing field in Osun election
    The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, on Tuesday, said the Governor Rauf Aregbesola-led government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) provided a level-playing field in the just-concluded Osun West Senatorial District’s election.
    While congratulating Dr. Demola Adeleke for emerging victorious at the Osun election held to fill the vacant seat created by the death of his elder brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, the governor said it was democracy in action.
    In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the governor commended the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for ensuring the party won the election.
    But he gave kudos to Governor Aregbesola for providing the enabling political environment for the successful conduct of the election.

    A post shared by *STAY GLUED* (@chinnysblog) on

    He said the poll held under the administration of Aregbesola was devoid of the “usual highhandedness often exhibited by incumbent governors especially with access to federal power”.
    The statement said: “For this reason, Dickson expressed the view that the Aregbesola-led APC government in Osun State must be commended for providing a level-playing field to allow the peoples’ will to prevail‎ and for not applying desperate measures to ensure that his party wins at all cost”.
    Dickson said he looked forward to more elections with a democratic appeal, adding that “a country or state cannot be truly democratic until its citizens have the opportunity to choose their representatives through elections that are free and fair”.
  • Dickson faults defection of PDP members to other parties

    Dickson faults defection of PDP members to other parties

    Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, on Wednesday expressed concern at the defection of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members to other parties especially the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Dickson, who is the Chairman of the PDP National Reconciliation Committee, appealed to PDP members to remain hopeful, insisting that the party would bounce back soon.

    The Dickson’s committee recommended political solutions to the crisis rocking the PDP, but the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party rejected the recommendations and opted for a legal solution.

    But the governor in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media Relations, Mr. Francis Agbo, said the party needed genuine reconciliation founded on compromises and forgiveness to play an effective role as a leading opposition voice.

    Dickson maintained that he was unhappy with the defections rocking the party and reports of some PDP leaders floating alternative political platforms.

    “If PDP leaders had accepted the reconciliation template formulated by the committee, a unity national convention would have taken place this month to elect its national leadership, and this would have put to rest the leadership crisis rocking the party,” he said.

    The governor lamented that some party leaders opted for the court which he stressed could only adjudicate and not reconcile feuding parties.

    Dickson added: “Political leaders in Nigeria exert too much pressure on the judiciary by failing to do things rightly, by failing to build consensus as well as refusing to respect laid down rules of politics.”

    He advised political leaders to stop relying on the judiciary to resolve an internal party affair, adding that such disputes could best be resolved through a political solution.

     

     

  • Bayelsa opens dialysis centre in Yenagoa

    Bayelsa opens dialysis centre in Yenagoa

    The Bayelsa Government has established a dialysis centre in the state to bring relief to people with kidney and other related health challenges.

    Gov. Seriake Dickson said the facility was part of his revolution in the health sector.

    Dickson made the remark while inspecting the centre in the Government House Specialist Hospital on Wednesday in Yenagoa.

    He said with the state of the art facilities and medical personnel deployed to various hospitals and health institutions across the state, the era of traveling to other states and countries to seek quality healthcare services were gone for good.

    “This is a statement we are making that Bayelsa has changed and we are waging a silent revolution for change, development and posterity. And this is one of the healthcare investments the state has made.

    “This is the first time we are having dialysis facilities by the state ‎government and we are glad that our partners, a team of experts from the United States are here to oversee these facilities.

    “So with what we have, the diagnostic centre and the referral hospitals in the eight local governments, you will agree with me that Bayelsa is set for quality healthcare delivery,” Dickson said.

    The governor assured that the facilities would be formally inaugurated very soon, saying it can be accessed as full services are being rendered on a daily basis.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the centre will complement the existing dialysis centre at the Federal Medical Centre Yenagoa, which was opened to the public since 2013.

    Dickson called on professionals in the health sector who hail from Bayelsa currently abroad to return home and contribute their own quota in addressing the challenges in the health system in the state.

    He assured them of government support and readiness to work with all Bayelsans in diaspora toward the development of the state.

  • Bayelsa commends FG for citing new fertilizer, petrochemical plant in Brass

    Bayelsa commends FG for citing new fertilizer, petrochemical plant in Brass

    The Bayelsa Government has commended the Federal Government for citing a multi-billion dollar private sector-driven fertilizer and petrochemical plant in Brass.

    The state Governor, Seriake Dickson gave the commendation when he led the Amanyanabo of Twon Brass, Commodore Alfred Diete-Spiff (rtd), and a team of private investors on a thank you visit to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

    According to Dickson, we are also here to discuss other issues concerning the take-off of the project.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Brass is a Local Government Area in Bayelsa State, with headquarters in the town of Twon-Brass on Brass Island along the coast.

    It has a coastline of approximately 90 km on the Bight of Bonny.

    Dickson told state House Correspondents on Tuesday that the project would create enormous jobs and transform the economy of the state and the country at large.

    The governor assured investors of adequate security.

    “We came to discuss issues on the Brass Fertilizer Project billed to take off in Bayelsa. That is a big ticket investment running into billions of dollars.

    “The government team is here, the traditional ruler is here because the project is taking place in his domain.

    “We are here to assure the Federal Government and investors that Bayelsa as they all know is one of the safest states in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “We have worked hard in the last five years I have been governor to bring that about.’’

    The governor also commended the Federal Government for its new approach in pursuing integrated development in the country based on partnership and collaboration evidenced by the fertilizer plant.

    Dickson noted that the Acting President’s dialogue on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari with  Niger Delta stakeholders, saying that a new understanding was emerging for the stability, security and development of the region.

    “It is when we bring big ticket investments, create jobs and we affect the economy and create other legitimate options through which young people can survive that some of the crises that we see here will be addressed.

    “This is a good way to begin to address that and that is why I am here to assure the Federal Government and investors for the steps so far taken.’’

    The governor also commended the Federal Government for directing oil producing companies that did not have offices in Bayelsa to open offices in the state.

    He recalled that the story of oil exploration began in Bayelsa but lamented that it was shocking that no oil company had an office in the state.

    Dickson expressed concern that the state had been denied the economic benefits of oil production.

    “There are no jobs, no employment, they don’t even pay much tax, and a number of them don’t even pay tax at all.

    “The Federal Government has said that they should go back.

    “So we expect to work with the Federal Government and engage with all the oil producing companies to see how they can begin to have respectable presence.’’

    Dickson also commended the Federal Government forits decision to establish modular refineries in the Niger Delta region.

    Citing the NLNG as one of the plants in the region, Dickson said it was yielding a lot of revenue for the country as one of the most profitable partnerships the Federal Government had gone into.

    “You have other big ones like the Gbarain/Obie gas plant project in Bayelsa owned by Shell, there are other ones.

    “But this one is a fertilizer petrochemical company, And they will do a lot of skills development and skills transfer, a lot of jobs will be created and there will be a boom in the local economy, state economy and ultimately affect the national economy positively.’’

    He said the Bayelsa government would engage the oil companies to ensure that they did their businesses without inhibitions.

  • NNPC mulls collaboration with Bayelsa on power, fertiliser plants

    NNPC mulls collaboration with Bayelsa on power, fertiliser plants

    The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursday said the corporation  would collaborate with the Bayelsa government to build a power plant in the state.

    Dr Maikanti Baru said this while receiving the  Gov Seriake Dickson, at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.

    According to Baru, the power plant will be built at the state’s proposed industrial park while the collaboration will afford the state and the NNPC the opportunity to share technical knowledge that will attract investors to the Niger Delta region.

    He said, ”We have a lot of areas of collaboration.

    ”The NNPC will support Bayelsa State Government every inch of the way to deliver on the power plant in the proposed industrial park, ensure security of oil and gas infrastructure and siting of other inclusive projects that would improve the lives of the people in the communities.”

    Baru added that Bayelsa was earmarked for the Federal Government’s Greenfield Modular Refinery project, feasibility studies had been concluded but the project was stalled due to the withdrawal of foreign partners.

    He said the delay on the Final Investment Decision (FID) of Brass Liquefied Natural Gas (BLNG), was because a market window for the product was being arranged.

    ”We have spent a lot of money on the Brass LNG project and we had planned the FID for 2012 but the shareholders were unable to secure the market due to new plants in East Africa and other developments in the industry.

    ”What the shareholders in Brass LNG are doing now is to redesign the plant and secure a market because without the market the project cannot go on,” he said.

    Baru also expressed interest in the state’s Brass Fertilizer Company, assuring that NNPC was prepared to invest in the project as a shareholder.

    He pledged that the corporation would rally its Joint Venture partners to support the State Trust Fund in order to mitigate the incidences of pipeline vandalism which impact negatively on the efficiency of the operators as well as the environment.

    Gov. Seriake Dickson had earlier said the visit was to appreciate Baru’s laudable efforts and to solicit the Corporation’s support for the state’s security, development and the Oil and Gas industry.

    Dickson said his state would seek an Oil Prospecting License, OPL, whenever the industry undertakes another bid round.

    He noted that his state needed such investment, over time, to augment the monthly allocation from the Federal Government.

  • Nobody can separate Jonathan and Dickson – PDP

    Nobody can separate Jonathan and Dickson – PDP

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Tuesday that despite the efforts of mischief makers, former President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson remained inseparable.

    The party insisted that plot by enemies of the state to cause disaffection between the duo had hit the brick wall.

    The Chairman of the party in Bayelsa, Sir Cleopas Moses, in a statement in Yenagoa frowned at the negative interpretation of “Dickson’s patriotic statement” during the 2017 Isaac Boro Day.

    He said the governor’s statement was being misinterpreted by troublemakers, who were bent on destroying the existing cordial and enviable relationship between him (Dickson) and Jonathan.

    Referring to Jonathan as the leader of PDP, Moses noted that Dickson’s unalloyed lo‎yalty and respect for the former President remained intact.

    He said, “The governor’s remark was purely aimed at calling on Bayelsans holding public offices within and outside the state to work together and drag meaningful development to the state through effective collaboration with the state government for the collective good of Bayelsa and the Ijaw nation.”

     

     

  • Dickson wants Appeal Court’s division established in Bayelsa

    The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, on Monday called for the establishment of an Appeal Court’s division in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    The Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, Mr. Wodu Kemasuode, who represented the governor at a brief ceremony to inaugurate a special session of the court in Yenagoa, said the state was ripe to have an Appeal Court’s division.

    A five-member panel of the court from the Port Harcourt Division, Rivers State, presided over by Justice A.A.B. Gumel, moved to Yenagoa for a two-week special sitting to hear over 200 appeals emanating from Bayelsa.

    While the Chief Judge of the state, Kate Abiri, led all the judges to attend the ceremony, the Chairman of the state’s chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Eric Derie, led some practising lawyers to the event.

    Addressing the panel on the need to have a court of appeal in Yenagoa, Kemasuode said litigants and lawyers from Bayelsa were finding it extremely difficult to take their appeals to Port Harcourt.

    He narrated ugly experiences of riverine dwellers who travelled for many hours by boat to Yenagoa before heading for Port Harcourt to seek justice at the court.

    The commissioner said, “For people going to Port Harcourt for matter from the hinterlands of Bayelsa State, it takes a minimum of two to three days journey. Even for those going from Yenagoa, it takes two days if the litigants and lawyers must avoid going late to court.

    “It is, therefore, at great cost to the litigants in Bayelsa State in terms of money and effort for them to attend to matters in the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt.

    “It is on this note that we respectfully call on the President of the Court of Appeal to establish a division of the Court of Appeal in Yenagoa to deal with the several hundreds of cases emanating from Bayelsa.”