Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State yesterday took the battle for his second term to his enemies’ camp in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by terminating the contracts awarded to firms owned by Presidential domestic aide, Waripamowei Dudafa and Bekes Etifa who is the Board Chairman, Federal Polytechnic Ekowe.
Both Dudafa and Etifa are known allies of the First Lady, Patience Jonathan, whose camp has been championing campaigns to deny Dickson a second term by next year.
Revoking the contracts earlier awarded to them by his government, Dickson explained that the duo who were given construction jobs at Kaiama, Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area, had abandoned them.
Before terminating the contracts, the Governor told his audience at a transparency briefing in Banquet Hall of Government House in Yenagoa, that persons fighting him within the PDP are main beneficiaries of his administration. He added that “A number of them have big contracts which they have abandoned”.
He stressed that the PDP and his government would no longer tolerate characters who were allowed to operate in the state because of their closeness to the President Goodluck Jonathan.
With the exit of Jonathan, Dickson vowed to be more ruthless in dealing with those fighting his administration.
Asserting that “It is going to be eyeball to eyeball now”, he threatened that a new order has come to the state.
Advising Bayelsans against falling for the antics of persons who claim that they will call the shots in the state if the new Federal Government takes over, he said, “They are deceiving you people because if a new President comes, he will work with me. We have formal ways we interact with the President”.
He explained that when PDP reigned at the centre, it did not stop other opposition governors from existing in their various states.
Deriding those who recently ditched the PDP for the APC, the Governor said those persons who moved hoping to get appointments in the new government would be disappointed.
Dickson, who expressed his displeasure when one of the defectors who hails from Kolo in Ogbia made a remark suggesting that he (Dickson) would soon move to the APC, asked the lawmaker not to use his name and his image to build their party. He alleged that their leader in the state lacks the capacity to build a party.
“Our state belong to PDP and the results of elections have shown this. We have demonstrated our capability during the past elections where we won three seats of the senate, five for the House of Representatives and 20 out of 22 declared seats for the State House of Assembly,” he said.
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