Conduct free, fair election in Bayelsa, Seriake-Dickson urges INEC

…says reconciliation ongoing in Bayelsa PDP

By Lawrence Olaoye

Bayelsa state governor, Hon. Henry Seriake-Dickson, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies to ensure the conduct of free, fair and credible governorship election in his state.
The governor, in an interaction with State House Correspondents after leading the governors of the oil producing states to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed door, also said that the reconciliation of all dissenting voices after the Bayelsa People’s Democratic Party primary, which produced Senator Douye Diri as the party’s candidate, was ongoing.
The governor, who called on the leader of the opposition in the state to join hands with him to ensure peaceful poll in the state, expressed the confidence that his party would win the November 26th governorship election in Bayelsa state.
He said “My call back home to all politicians and parties, to all institutions of government, particularly the INEC and the security agencies, is that all hands must literally be on deck.
We have had very unfortunate instances where in elections you see unnecessary violence, carnage and brigandage, maiming and displacement of people. In Bayelsa, we have IDPs.
There are people, innocent, peaceful women and children and people who were chased away by the militia boldly supported by some security agencies and some political actors who kill and have federal government support and cover; who know they cannot win any election if we are to rely on votes of the people.
That is the situation in some communities and those concerns have always been raised. So, we call for free fair and credible and above all peaceful governorship election. I am not on the ballot this time and I have always said that myself as the leader of the PDP and the leader of the leading opposition party who is a minister lead the charge and work together for a peaceful free and credible election.”
The governor said his administration has been able to stabilize the state and made it one of the safest states in the country in the last eight years or so that he had been in power.
Asked what efforts he had made to reconcile aggrieved PDP members in the state following the party’s primary, the governor said he had contacted leaders both at local and national levels stressing that reconciliation efforts are ongoing.
According to him, the ruling PDP was unbeatable in Bayelsa as the leading opposition in the state was unorganized and parading unsellable candidate with no capacity to govern the state.
He said the opposition candidate cannot win any election in Bayelsa state in a free, fair and credible poll.