Bye Bye to APC in Bayelsa —Dickson

By Samuel Oyadongha & Emem Idio

Yenagoa—Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State says the defection of over 2,000 members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state marks the gradual winding up of the APC in Bayelsa State.

But the APC governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, through the Director of Media and Publicity of Sylva-Igiri Campaign Organisation, Chief Nathan Egba,  advised its members in the state to be wary of the antics of the PDP to lure them to its fold.

Dickson, who alongside chieftains of the PDP received the decampees in Yenagoa, said the action of more defectors from the APC to the PDP was an indication of the fact that the machinations of the APC have been exposed as displayed in the governorship election in the state.

The returnees, according to the governor, were deceived by the leadership of the APC, noting that, now that they have known the truth, they have retraced their steps to the PDP.

Assuring the returnees of the readiness of the leadership of the PDP to give them a sense of belonging, Dickson said the umbrella was big enough to accommodate them.

On the violence that marred the conduct of the re-scheduled governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, he said the APC should be held responsible, noting that instead of preparing people for the election, the APC was preparing the innocent youths for violence.

“This ceremony of receiving APC defectors is most significant, because it signals the winding up of APC in Bayelsa State, which is known as operation winding up APC in Bayelsa. I listened to your reasons for being deceived into the APC fold, so you all shall be carried along in the new government and as your fathers, we believe you have not done anything wrong.”

Similarly, Dickson said that as the governor of the state, he was prepared to receive everyone, and all political parties, including defectors from the APC and Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM unconditionally.

He commended youths from Ekowe and Amassoma as well as women for their gallantry in resisting the soldiers who collaborated with militants in carting away ballot boxes at gun point on the election day and even daring to wait and vote by midnight amidst threats, winning their units.

Don’t fall for PDP’s antics, Bayelsa APC warns members

Meanwhile, the Sylva-Igiri Campaign Organisation, SICO, has advised its members in the state, to be wary of the antics of the PDP, to lure them to their fold.

Director of Media and Publicity of SICO, Chief Nathan Egba, in a statement in Yenagoa, said, that the advice became necessary in view of the “devious plans” of the PDP to entice members of the APC in the state.”

According to him, “Among such plans is the recent act of inviting unsuspecting APC members through their relations and friends to PDP gatherings.

“Such people are then immediately paraded before television cameras and other means of mass media, as new APC decampees, with a view to making the general public believe that Governor Dickson is gaining popularity, whereas, the reverse is the case.”