Dickson’s failed visit to Buhari, sign of desperation —APC

Mr. Seriake Dickson

By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa—The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Bayelsa State, yesterday, described as a “sign of desperation” and “acceptance of defeat,” Tuesday’s surprise visit by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the state governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, to the Presidential Villa for audience with  President Muhammadu Buhari.

But the PDP in the state dismissed as misleading, the claim that Dickson’s visit to the Villa was to lobby the President for soft landing in respect of the outcome of the re-run election.

The APC, in a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity of the Sylva/Igiri Campaign Organisation, Chief Nathan Egba, expressed joy that the audience sought by Dickson was not granted by President Buhari.

According to the APC, “Our investigations reveal that Dickson is quite unsettled ahead of the January 9  re-run election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, which is a stronghold of the APC and he is now reportedly looking for a soft landing after he actually loses the Bayelsa governorship seat.

“President Buhari should be wary of the desperate Dickson, whose main plan is to win the election through the use of violence.

“We are confident that the APC candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, will win convincingly in Southern Ijaw council and the other 101 polling units across the state, because Bayelsa people are yearning to be part of the national change movement.”

But the PDP in the state, in a statement in Yenagoa by the Director of Media and Publicity for  the Restoration Campaign Organisation, Jonathan Obuebite, said the claims by the APC were a  set of  lies and figments of their imagination.

He said: “The claim of the APC is filled with lies. It is sad for APC in Bayelsa State to think that the governor would visit Aso Villa without any previous appointment.

“It is almost like a no brainer for any discerning mind to know that nobody just wakes up in the morning, gets dressed and heads straight to the Presidential Villa without being invited or having a prior appointment.

“For crying out loud, it is inconceivable for anyone to assume, much less believe, that the governor of an oil-rich state that contributes over 40 percent of the nation’s wealth would be denied access to see the President,” he stated.

Obuebite dismissed the report, describing it as “not worthy of any response.”

He said the governorship election had already been won and lost, and therefore, not surprising that the APC in Bayelsa State was still carrying on in their usual deception as if they still stand a chance.

“The APC has lost and they know it. No amount of propaganda and blackmail will return them as winners. They have been roundly rejected by the people and we truly sympathise with them because the APC is finished in Bayelsa State,” Obuebite said.