By Igoniko Oduma - Yenagoa
As the countdown to the December 5, 2015, governorship election in Bayelsa State gathers momentum,
A socio-political group, the Bayelsa Democracy and Development Initiative (BDDI), has called for the disqualification of Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson from the forthcoming governorship election.
Co-ordinator of BDDI and former Chief Press Secretary to President Goodluck Jonathan while he served as governor in Bayelsa State, Konrad Welson, who said that Dickson was not electable added that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) might lose the governorship election if it presented Dickson as its candidate.
Welson said in a statement last Tuesday in Yenagoa that the group’s position was informed by the field research and survey it conducted across the state.
He said the group had interacted with people from the urban and rural areas of the state including students, workers, professional bodies and youths to arrive at its conclusion.
He said, “We conducted a field research and survey with the findings showing that a good percentage of the people of the state are not favourably disposed to the re-election bid of the state governor.
“The state of affairs is as a result of what the people perceive as a failure to live up to the expectations of the people in electing him in 2011, coupled with his hostile and divisive leadership style and that being the flag bearer of the PDP may lead to the loss of the party in the state”.
Welson said the BDDI’s interface with the political class and civil society organisations in the last three months revealed alleged deep-seated disdain and disappointment in the leadership style of Dickson.
According to him, the acrimony in the PDP and the inability of the state government to offer basic amenities such as roads, hospitals and potable water in the state after three and a half years on the saddle were some of the reasons advanced by the people.
“In the same vein, the BDDI admonishes the main opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress, not to take Bayelsans for granted by solely relying on the perceived and assumed influence of the Federal Government for their fortune at the forthcoming election.
“The APC must work hard to present a candidate that is competent, credible and capable of governing the people”, he added.
The group also advised the political class in the state and the entire civil society to work collaboratively and cooperatively in electing the best person as a way of achieving social justice and good governance in Bayelsa.
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