Dickson slams Bayelsa group after it defects to APC

Bayelsa Governor, Seriake Dickson, has slammed the decision by members Bayelsa Peoples Consultative Assembly (BPCA) to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The members recently crossed the floor to APC expressing dissatisfaction with Dickson’s alleged high-handedness in running affairs in the state.

They also argued that the state’s best interest would be served by an APC government as the party also controls the federal government.

Dickson, in a statement issued on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the accusations were misplaced.

He said greed motivated the decision to quit PDP.

“As a democrat, Governor Seriake Dickson believes that the proponents of the Bayelsa Peoples Consultative Assembly have the inalienable right to association but also conscious of the moral baggage of such tendency and indeed the motif,” his spokesperson said.

He described the BPCA as “an opportunistic lobby group desperately in search of power without any modicum of integrity.”

“They should be reminded that contrary to their assertions, they actually constitute the problem of development in the state and not Governor Seriake Dickson. What is plying out is an offshoot of the governor’s long running battle with this class of politicians on the proper utilization of state resources to serve the people and never to serve the greed of the few.”

The members that quit PDP had served in the party’s governments both in the state and federal levels.

“Their selfish conception of politics and attitude in government are what had retarded development in the state since the era of the late statesman, Chief Melford Okilo. Bayelsans can never exchange the present peace and tranquility in the state as well as the unprecedented level of development for the chaos and unmitigated rent culture of the past,” said Dickson’s spokesperson.

Iworiso-Markson added that the decision by members of BPCA to join the APC would not make any difference in the electoral fortunes of the PDP in the elections scheduled for next year.

“It is now harder for them to win no matter how they try in a free and fair election and with regards to what is on the ground in the state. It is assuring that the good people of Bayelsa will vote en-mass for the re-election of Governor Seriake Dickson to appreciate his performance and continue the good job he’s doing.”