Bayelsa State governor, Henry Seriake Dickson on Tuesday in Yenagoa
celebrated the first year of his re-election and five years in office
as the governor of the State, with a pledge to lift embargo on
employment into the civil service and broaden the scope of governance
by rewarding those who worked for him.
He also stated that only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would win
elections in the state in subsequent elections.
Dickson in his speech delivered at the popular Peace Park, where the
event was held with over 5,000 guests from home and abroad recalled
how Bayelsans, including women, trooped out to defend their votes,
amidst booming of guns, during the December 5, 2015 and January 9 2016
supplementary elections.
“I will soon lift embargo on employment into Bayelsa State civil
service. And, all those who were part of the struggles will be
rewarded accordingly”, he stated.
He advised loyalists of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to
renounce their membership and join the PDP, if they had ambitions to
contest any future electoral positions in the state.
The governor had danced to the lyrical tunes of Ijaw war songs before
addressing mammoth crowd of his supporters.
He said: “This state is unshakably PDP. When they tried to be funny,
don’t worry, the reason I am Ofurumapepe leading this party is that
when battle never tough, Ofurumapepe doesn’t come out.
“Anybody who wants to contest an election, let me put you on notice,
the only platform that can win an election in this state under my
leadership is the PDP. Which election will be tougher than the one we
won with me as candidate?
“We will lead the party to win all elections in the state, God
willing. We have nothing to hide. We are busy chasing the challenges
of government in Bayelsa and at this time our hands as we have always
said are opened.
“The doors of PDP in Bayelsa are open even for those who made
mistakes, our big umbrella is waiting to receive all of them back. If
they don’t come back no way for elections in the state. Tell them. If
they come back, accept them”.
The governor insisted that, the PDP would bounce back and regain the
control of the centre in 2019 after resolving their internal crisis.
He said he had transformed the state and brought development to a very
high level, fantasies to realities, adding that, the people of the
state now have the best hospitals, roads and schools, under his
government.
“Everywhere you go, they tell you that one of the safest states in e
country is Bayelsa because you said no to people who practice
violence.
“You have seen massive roads and we will continue to build the roads,
hospitals and schools which they could not build”, he said.
He noted that the hardship in the state was caused by APC at the
federal level, accusing the party of destroying the economy.
He said under the APC, Naira which used to be N160 to the dollar, had
skyrocketed to N500.
The governor, however, promised to lift an embargo in employment in
the state immediately he completed the ongoing reforms in the the
public service.
He said his government would make more appointments to empower the
people and reward persons, who worked for his victory.
Speaking at the occasion, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP
and former Minister for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said when he first
visited Bayelsa, under former Governor Goodluck Jonathan, the state
was a mini-village.
Dickson, he said, had transformed the state into a town, describing
the governor as one of the pillars of the PDP.
“With governor Dickson, PDP has a future”, he said adding that PDP
managed the country for 17 years only for APC to destroy the economy.
He said all the institutions built by the PDP were being used by APC
to fight corruption in the country and insisted that, in 2019, the
party would bounce back.