Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has again urged politicians in the state to jettison every selfish motive and be united in their efforts at galvanizing support for President Goodluck Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential election.
Dickson, who gave the charge at the 47th State Executive Council Meeting in Yenagoa, also called on security agencies to step up their efforts at ensuring that, the state maintains its peaceful and tranquil atmosphere for socio-economic activities to thrive.
While, thanking Bayelsans for their love and support for his administration, the Governor decried the activities of some overzealous politicians, who use cheap blackmail and propaganda to run down the people oriented policies and programmes of the state government for their narrow political interests.
He, however, urged such politicians to have a rethink and join hands with members of the restoration team in mobilizing support for President Jonathan, especially at the national level.
Governor Dickson, particularly advised those, who intend to run for the governorship of the state, not to heat up the polity as, noting that, it was not yet time for such political activities.
He said, “In this state, we don’t have governorship elections early; the earliest time nomination processes will start, by my reckoning, will be August/September or maybe even later than that; then the general election may hold about November/December.
So, all the people that are flexing muscles are doing so at the wrong time. And, their aim clearly is to distract us, but we will remain focused. At the right time, our politics will commence.
For the past three years, we have been working without playing politics. I still will like us to try and keep it that way.
Continuing, he said, “For those desperate elements, who think that Bayelsa should go back to those days of needless divisions and rancour; I want to advise them that, they should all stay focused and work with us to deliver on the presidential election.
Lamenting the hardship Bayelsans experienced during the Christmas and new year celebrations owing to lack of cash in the banks operating the state, Governor Dickson urged his finance team to effectively interface with financial institutions to avoid any recurrence in the future.
His words, “Next time I hope the Commissioner for Fiance will ensure that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the banks in this state perform better because, I’ve been told that, it is now that, even approvals, that were made to support our people during the festive period are receiving attention from the various banks, which is not right. The Finance team should take note, so that at any other festive period, the state should not go through this kind of hardship”.
