Mr Henry Dickson
The frosty relationship between First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State again manifested itself over the weekend with the staging of a protest by a political pressure group, Network for Bayelsa People’s Agenda, NBPA, for the removal of the later as governor.
The group claimed that the booing of the Governor during the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential rally in Yenagoa, was a clear evidence that the people have lost confidence in the leadership style of the governor who has been having a running battle with Dame Jonathan.
While commending Bayelsa residents for booing the Governor, NBPA, in a statement signed by its chairman, Ibipa Oweiza and made available to journalists in Yenagoa, alleged that all attempts to prevent the people from ventilating their views by government officials failed.
They accused Governor Dickson of handling state matters as if it were a private estate and noted that the action of the people has reinforced that they were not satisfied with the governor’s style of leadership.
The Bayelsa Governor was also accused of empowering only his kinsmen and in-laws in the award of contracts while telling other residents that there was no money in the State due to drop in federal allocation.
While calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to look into their demands, the group alleged that the high handedness and lack of human feeling shown by the Governor could no longer be tolerated.
“We are the people who are feeling the pains of Dickson’s leadership are the in a better position to say so, and we urge President Jonathan to listen to the voice of the people,” the group pleaded.
Meanwhile, reacting swiftly to the protest, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, claimed that his principal’s supporters were in the majority. He accused members of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, and the First Lady’s Women for Change Initiative as those who spearheaded the booing.
According to him, “Attempts by members of TAN and Women for Change and Development Initiative to boo and stone the Governor were drowned by the singing and drumming of pro-Dickson supporters, who were at the venue of the rally in their numbers.”
This position taken by Governor Dickson against Women for Change Initiative, a non-governmental organisation promoted by Dame Jonathan, and TAN which is controlled in Bayelsa by her loyalists, indicates that the mind of the President’s wife was made up as regards ousting the incumbent governor from his exalted position. The next governorship election in the State comes up in 2016 considering that Mr Dickson was sworn into office on February 12, 2012.
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