By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
Basking in the euphoria of his victory at the Bayelsa State Election Petitions Tribunal which sat in Abuja, Governor Henry Seriake Dickson was in the State House on Wednesday where he met President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed- doors.
Dickson who met the President for about two hours, told State House correspondents that he needed to see the President to converse with him on the way out of the security challenges in the Niger Delta.
He also kicked against the proposed use of force against the Niger Delta Avengers and other militants who have been blowing up pipelines and reducing the country’s income from her oil resources in the region.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai had recently disclosed Federal Government’s plan to resort to the use of force if the ongoing dialogue fails to end the violence in the region.
The governor however argued that as a son of the Niger Delta who knows the terrain and understand the issues, dialogue was the only way out of the crises.
He also commended the President for maintaining a neutral stand throughout the period of election and litigation despite alleged moves by desperate politicians to use his name to truncate the will of the people.
“I came in this afternoon to have discussions with Mr. President. That is because my position has been and I believe that is the right position every political leader should take which is that after general elections political leaders and citizens must unite and address common issues and find solutions to the problems of our country. All over the world, once nations have crisis, once nations come under attack, leaders unite across political lines. And together I came in to have discussion with Mr. President and I thank him for that opportunity and we cross fertilized ideas around issues of security. Of course as you know Bayelsa is central to the maintenance of law and order and stability in our country particularly in the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa is the epic centre of the issues that have to do with the Niger Delta. And we had fruitful discussions on the need for political leaders to work together to support the work of the security agencies and foster better understanding of even people who have grievances and that we are committed to do together,” he said.
The governor continued: “I also want to use this opportunity to appreciate Mr. President for his non-interference in the political processes that played out in Bayelsa in the last general elections. And as you are also aware, yesterday the Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja delivered judgement upholding my election and affirming my emergence as a true product of the democratic exercise of rights of our people in the December 5th and January 9th.
Again, I want to use this opportunity to appreciate Mr. President for his non-interference contrary to the propaganda and the name dropping that some politicians back home and even in Abuja embarked upon. There is no name they didn’t call, there is no claim that they didn’t make but I’m telling Nigerians, I’m telling Bayelsans to disregard all that propaganda, the President never had anything to do by way of negatively influencing of the last general elections in Bayelsa and also the outcome of the Tribunal proceedings. That is important because if our nation must move forward, if our democracy must be strengthened, if our nation must move forward, if our democracy must be strengthened, if our nation must be stable, then institutions must be allowed to grow.
I want to use this opportunity to call on my opponent, brother and friend and fellow citizen of Bayelsa and all others to join hands with us so that we can render service to our people and a stronger more stable and prosperous Bayelsa.”
On the Niger Delta crises, he said: “I have said that the issues in the Niger Delta, the terrain, the historic nature of the issues and challenges are such that military solution may not be the way forward. For us who are products of political system who are at this level, we have a duty to mobilise communal and local leadership, we have a duty to support the work of intelligence and security agencies are doing, we have a duty to ensure that issues are better appreciated and that we fill the communication gap. And where there are issues those issues need be addressed and is also our duty to network like I’m doing to ensure that problems that are identified as the route cause of some of these challenges are looked into.
The military solutions as I have always maintained is not the right option, we are hopeful that the ongoing discussions will yield the desired result. I have always been in support of negotiations, of dialogue as the sustainable way forward. Dialogue will bring out the issues and then we will all unite around these common issues to move our country forward.”
Speaking on the division of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said the upcoming convention would bring an end to the crises.
“There is no doubt that our nation needs a political party in opposition, strong, organised opposition. Opposition that plays by the rule, that knows that there comes a time when people across divides must unite for the sake of our country. And we are working hard to ensure that some of the issues and disputes in the party are resolved. You expect to see those types of issues and disputes in any political party and we are working hard to address them. And we believe that the convention will come and go and we will have a virile, credible opposition party that will work for our democracy and our the Nigerian nation,” he said.
