By: Oliseama Okwuchukwu
Ex-Governor of Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva, and incumbent Governor, The Honourable Seriake Dickson, have renewed their rivalry, taking their political differences to the public domain ahead of the general elections.
Sylva had ruled Bayelsa under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between 2007 and 2012 and later joined the later joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014 and became APC guber candidate in the 2015 election.
Sylva had alleged that Gov Dickson was bent of misrepresenting, pitching him on a collision course with the Presidency with a campaign of calumny based on falsehood, an allegation the Dickson camp promptly denied.
Sylva in a statement issued Friday in Yenagoa by his Media Assistant Julius Bokoru dismissed Dickson’s denial as ‘feeble’.
“We have read the feeble denial by Gov Henry Seriake Dickson, about his plot to create an artificial war between the Presidency and former Bayelsa Governor and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva.
“Dickson is shocked because the good people of Bayelsa alerted Sylva. Our statement was clear and direct: Dickson seeks to create a wedge between Sylva and the Presidency through a fake news campaign
“We have now foiled that desperate plan. We thank the good people of Bayelsa for standing with Sylva and the APC, for standing for truth and integrity.
“We applaud and commend them for standing against those who think governance is about propaganda and psychological warfare.
“The issue here is not about Sylva but a campaign of fake news to undermine the Presidency.
“The purpose for Dickson, of course, is to bolster the faltering fortunes of his party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and in the country,” the statement read in part.
Sylva said that Dickson thinks it is man rather than God that determines another man’s fate. Hence he speaks of someone’s “lifeline in politics” and “the state of mood of his political masters”.
According to him, Dickson needs to be reminded that the prevailing national mood, today, is the presidential elections scheduled for the next few weeks.
“Dickson speaks of conscience, but conscience is when you pay civil servants their salaries promptly, conscience is when you don’t attack a courthouse like a thug.
“Conscience is when you don’t elevate violence to the status of a government policy, conscience is when you don’t impoverish a once thriving people and state.
“Conscience is when you don’t fail abysmally at even basic levels of governance, conscience is when you don’t become a nightmare for those you are supposed to govern and conscience is when you don’t tell low level lies,” Bokoru said.
Dickson, who reacted through a statement by his Special Adviser, Media Relations, FIdelis Soriwei, said that “Sylva cuts the gnawing image of a troubled man screaming and fleeing at the sight of nobody.”
Dickson said that politicians who desecrated the opportunities to serve, to abuse state resources to lure Bayelsa youths to violence would face condemnation in the courts of posterity.
“Again, we are constrained to react to spurious claims and distractions from Sylva and his cohorts who are bent on misinforming the Nigerian public.
“It is indeed unfortunate that Sylva has descended to the level of scavenging for imagined information in the gutters for the purpose of attacking the Governor.
“While it is the standard for genuine leaders and serious members need politicians to respond to real issues, Sylva is yet to recover from bitterness occasion by his excruciating rejection by his own people.
“Now that Sylva knows that a leaked audio is not emanating from Bayelsa, he may try catch some sleep. Dickson has great plans for Bayelsa and Sylva is a costly distraction no leader would want to afford.
“The recent invectives from Sylva are a product of Blackmail inspired by consequences of some tormenting sense of guilt.
“When Sylva talks about conscience, Bayelsans shiver! There couldn’t have been better way to advertise hypocrisy.
“While Sylva is worrying over the imagined consequences of a badly buried corpse, we are mindful to remind him once again that the only thing in hot pursuit of him is his shadow.
“When he looks back, he shall find no Dickson. The Governor is miles ahead of him,” Dickson stated.