Bayelsa 2019: “You‘ll soon know who your flag bearer is” – Dickson tells Oshiomhole

Less than 24 hours after the All Progressives Congress National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, flayed Bayelsa State governor, Hon Seriake Dickson, for using unsophisticated language against his party’s governorship candidate, David Lyon, the governor has replied the former labour leader, saying that he lacks adequate knowledge of who he chose as the flag bearer of the party.

The governor also dismissed Oshiomhole’s vow that the APC would take over Bayelsa State after the election.

Dickson made the remark on Friday during a chat with journalists at the end of 3rd annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) held at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

The governor also dismissed Oshiomhole’s vow that the APC would take over Bayelsa State after the election.

The Bayelsa governor recently reportedly accused the oil companies in the state of “outsourcing terrorism” to David Lyon, the APC candidate, “by awarding him pipeline security and surveillance contracts.”

Addressing journalists at the GOCOP event, Dickson said: “My good friend Oshiomhole knows that the APC cannot win Bayelsa in a free and fair election. They can’t win any ward in Bayelsa. None. They have never won any election except intimidating people, manipulating electoral body. He knows that.

“He is my good friend. I disagree with his views. I believe he doesn’t know his candidate enough. But in the coming days and weeks, I believe he will get to know the person he has allowed to be the flag bearer.

“Since 2015, we have been dealing with extreme violence and abuse of power by the leadership of the party that has the centre. We expect that the elections would not be as violent as the previous ones.

Read Also: Oshiomhole: Dickson is afraid of imminent loss
“The people of Bayelsa can be trusted to vote for a candidate they believe has the experience, a candidate that they believe understands the issues, a candidate that will continue with the massive development that has come to stay in Bayelsa.”

Appreciating GOCOP for inviting him to the event, Dickson said: “I am here to thank and appreciate you all for the god work you are doing in deepening our democracy. You cannot have democracy without a vibrant media. All of us who are running government, especially in this era of social media, it is not easy.

“Just from the anonymity of the laptop or even a cell phone, headlines are made and issues are raised, and God help you if you are in a state like Bayelsa where the social media is one of the busiest. Everybody is commenting, criticising.

“As inconvenient as this age of social media is clearly is, it is nevertheless indispensable to the sustenance, and developing and deepening of our democracy.”