S/Court verdict, confirmation of my finishing well, strong – Dickson

Friday, February 14, 2020 8:10 am

Senator Duoye Diri at Government House, Yenagoa with his wife and Deputy-Governor -Elect.

…..Governor Dickson says he is not perfect but he’s leaving behind a worthy legacy, nonetheless

Okafor Ofiebor/Yenagoa

Outgoing Governor of Bayelsa State, Henry Seriake Dickson has said the Supreme Court judgment which knocked out the All Progressives Congress, APC and returned gubernatorial victory to his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was a clear evidence of his government “finishing well and strong.”

He made the remark on Thursday at a live media chat held in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

He said he had confidence on the Governor elect, Senator Douye Diri to do his best and out-perform him in virtually all sectors, adding that he had done a lot of work.

Gov. Dickson claimed about 45 to 48 billion naira due to the state was still being witheld by the federal government.

He, however, assured that the consultants, in collaboration with federal authorities, were working round the clock to enure release of the witheld funds in the next couple of weeks.

On why he delayed the commissioning of so many projects to the last days of his administration, he said he made it clear that he would be working till the very last day before the handover date.

Governor Dickson expressed displeasure at the conduct of some of his appointees who joined a protest against him, saying they are the ones that would eventually benefit and come back to have appointments in the next government.

He wondered why appointees now regard themselves as civil servants, adding that every political appointee must understand that they hold such appointments at the pleasure of the government.

He disclosed that at some point his administration was spending almost eight hundreds million naira on appointees salaries monthly.

The Governor added that what the appointees did to him was a disincentive as it and he could, therefore, not guarantee that the next govt will continue in that spirit.

Dickson said the main challenge he faced was funding as funding gaps existed which required to be filled.

He also commented on the peculiar terrain of the state which was below sea level, saying it impeded development and gulped more funds unlike other places where there have been ongoing development since colonial times.

He observed that the huge educational deficit in the state played a role in inhibiting the capacity of Bayelsans to comprehend the enormity of governance, prompting him to invest massively in education.

He said as a human being, he was not perfect as any human being who claimed perfection is a fool.

He said he had made mistakes, but urged Bayelsans to continue to remember him in prayers even as he bows out and called on them to extend the same support to the incoming governor.

He said he had made a similar appeal to the traditional rulrers.

He,therefore, charged them to support the Governor elect Senator Diri but warmed that, as a human being, he may not be able to solve all the problems of the state.

He said he had made tremendous impact as on Friday February 14, he would be commissioning one of the largest starch processing factory in Africa with a capacity to process 50 tonnes of Cassava.

Governor Dickson called on Bayelsans to turn out enmasse for the inauguration on Friday and to maintain the peace before during and after the inauguration of so that the state could maximally derive the dividends of democracy.

However, PDP sources have described analysis being bandied in the social media that the Senator Duoye Diri did not get the required spread as required by the Constitution for him to be sworn in as governor as false.

According to them, all the votes cast for the APC are null and void on the ground that the APC as at the date of elections, had no valid candidate, according to the judgment of the Supreme Court.

Graphic details of the election results showing Senator Duoye Diri met the Constitutional requirements haven scored highest of the valid votes cast in the LGA with APC results nullified by Supreme Court emerge.

They therefore argued that Sen. Douye Diri won 1/4 of the votes and 25% of the all the votes since the PDP won in all the Local government Areas if the results of the election were computed without the scores of APC.