How Bayelsa delegates will vote at PDP presidential primary

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has said all PDP delegates from the state to the national convention of the party will adopt a common position and cast their votes en bloc for the candidate who displays sufficient courage and capacity to restructure the country.

The convention is scheduled for this weekend in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Governor Dickson spoke on Thursday during a meeting with leaders and other stakeholders of the party at Government House, Yenagoa.

He said the state and the entire Ijaw nation would only vote for a candidate that is ready to promote mutual respect for all Nigerians as well as create a level playing ground for all, irrespective of ethnic and religious leanings.

A press release signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Relations, Fidelis Soriwei, quoted Governor Dickson as saying his people would only support and work with a candidate that would give the people equal opportunities and stake in the oil and gas industry,

The statement described the Ijaws as haven been relegated to the background over the years despite their enviable role as oil producing areas.

“Why I have assembled you all is about the position that we will all take as a state and the entire Ijaw nation,” the governor was quoted as saying. “All the delegates will vote at the PDP Presidential Convention in one direction and as a bloc. No one delegate vote will be lost because the 2019 general election is a very serious election for our people.”

Governor Dickson, the statement reported, also condemned the reported cases of misdemeanour during the Senatorial and House of Representatives primaries at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, Yenagoa and at Ogbia town on Wednesday, and urged the people to always conduct themselves peacefully, as elections were not a do-or-die affair.

Describing the primaries that had taken place across the state as largely peaceful and transparent, he said the full weight of the law would be brought to bear on all those involved in the attempt to disrupt the process no matter how highly placed.

“I have made it clear to the party and the panel that we don’t want any more violence or any attempt at violence,”the governor said. “The exercise in our state has gone on fairly smoothly. And, I condemn those who shot guns yesterday at the Sports Complex and at Ogbia Town and I have directed investigations.

“When people take the laws into their hands and do what is wrong, there are consequences and those consequences must flow irrespective of who is concerned. And when the consequences come, people should not read meanings. When the law takes its course, they will now be looking for people to blame. We will punish each and every one who took part in that. Investigations have already started.”

Governor Dickson also urged all political aspirants in the state to exhibit team spirit, saying politics should be seen as an opportunity to serve the people and not a one man game.

“In politics, things change,” he said. “There are some people, if it is not their own way, it is the highway, everybody will go and crash, they don’t care. Those are not politicians but mercenaries. This game is a group game and never about one man or one woman. The day we worked for them and they became senators, it was not imposition. Some stayed there for 8 and 12 years and others for 4 years. They tend to forget that this game of political service requires loyalty.”

Governor Dickson said he would convene a meeting with all those who lost out in the primaries, saying the political system has a way of making them relevant by offering them other opportunities to contribute to the development of the state.

In his remarks, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Fyneman Wilson, congratulated those who emerged winners at the various primaries.

Mr. Wilson added that there was need for all to work together to ensure success for the PDP in the 2019 general elections.