Barely 23 days to the governorship election in Bayelsa State, the candidate for the All Progressives Congress, Chief Timipre Sylva, has asked Governor Seriake Dickson to begin to pack his belongings and get ready to quit the Government House. Sylva carpeted Dickson, the candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in the December 5 poll, describing his policies and programmes as “anti-people, wicked and painful.”
The former governor, who spoke through his campaign outfit, Sylva-Igiri Campaign Organisation, alleged that Dickson had introduced unpopular policies to inflict pains on the citizens since he became governor in 2012. Sylva, in a statement signed by the Director of Media and Publicity, SICO, Chief Nathan Egba, said Dickson had deliberately impoverished the people. He said:
“It will be recalled that Governor Dickson had boasted that none of his appointees, particularly the commissioners and special advisers, would become millionaires in his government.
“Dickson went further to introduce policies that have crippled the economic activities of the people of Bayelsa so as to ensure that there would be nobody financially strong enough to challenge him in the coming election.
“The civil servants are worst off as the Dickson administration introduced multiple taxations to shortchange them and take a part of their meager salaries through the backdoor in order to keep them in perpetual poverty.”
Dickson, in a swift reaction, advised Sylva to stop propaganda, unnecessary blackmail and engage in issue-based campaigns. The governor, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, reminded the former governor that propaganda never won elections. The governor said, “Propaganda and blackmail do not win elections. Timipre Sylva and his small group of supporters thrive in propaganda, engaging in outright lies and blackmail but unfortunately, they have failed.
“It is clear that propaganda does not win elections. We urge him to go from community to community as I am doing to meet with the people and campaign on issues.”
The governor reminded Sylva that Bayelsa people could not be deceived or swayed by his blackmail, cheap lies and propaganda. He queried:
“What is draconian about free and compulsory education for children? Or is there anything draconian about the scholarship programme for the youths of Bayesla? Dickson’s government did not introduce new taxes to the people of Bayelsa.”