Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa Thursday State, emerged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Dec 5 governorship election in the state.
Dickson contested the primary election as the only aspirant following the disqualification of three aspirants and withdrawal of another.
The Chairman of the PDP Election Panel, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state, commended the delegates for their peaceful conduct adding that this was an indication that PDP was ready to set good example for other parties to follow.
“ A total of 476 delegates were listed for the election, 452 people were accredited, 24 were absent while five votes were voided.
“Gov. Dickson having scored 447 votes in the Bayelsa PDP governorship primary election, I declare him the winner; he is now returned as the party gubernatorial candidate in the state.
“The election today, shows that PDP is united and the transparency in the election is commendable. I must say that PDP will continue to be united not only in Bayelsa but Nigeria at large.
Gov. Dickson reacting to his victory, said, he was ready to continue to pilot the affairs of the people of the state.
“It is with a great sense of humility and gratitude that I stand here before you all my fellow party men with whom I share this honour of being a member of a great party like this, I thank you all today. I am humble today accepting your nomination to be the humble servant of our people to fly the flag of our great party for the governorship elections that are scheduled for December 5 this year.
“In doing so, I give thanks to God, but I must thank you all for the patience and forbearance and belief and confidence that you all have had not just in me and the former President but in our party and our state. I thank you for standing by us in spite of the machination of a few who fell by the way side. Today, you have all spoken and on December 5, you will speak louder so that Abuja will hear you Bayelsans.
“This party is different from the other party. Few days ago, even when we did what they themselves would not have done- we gave them this stadium to host again their primaries and they made a mess of it. I am told that we don’t have an opponent yet. I am told that the primary was concluded and the other side does not have somebody who has a Certificate of Return, which means they went through an examination but they failed the exams, that there was a lot of cheating, it is not we who are saying it, it is they who are confessing on the pages of newspapers, of fraud and criminality.
“As Governor of this state, having done our part by trying to provide security, giving them state facilities to use, I will like to use this opportunity to condemn in the strongest possible term the attack on citizens of this state. Whether we agree with their political beliefs or not, they do not deserve the treatment that they received on that day, and we are all ashamed because that is not our true nature, our true nature is what we are exhibiting today.
“We are people of peace, a people who organize ourselves well and the difference is very clear. Whereas they are disorganized, we are organized. Whereas they are a party of cultists and criminals we are a party of law abiding citizens.
“Let me call on all our brothers and sisters who fell victims to 419 and one chance that they should come back. Our big umbrella is ever open to accommodate them… We have left Egypt in this state. Those days where we will wake up and see corpses on the streets of Bayelsa is over. Those days, where government did not do their job by building roads and schools and hospitals, and today we are building the roads they could have built but did not build. We are completing the roads and bridges they could have built and completed but they did not do.
“I want to thank you for your confidence in me by asking me to continue to consolidate the gains of peace, stability and development of this land.
In doing so, I want to use this opportunity to announce to you that I will be assisted and supported in that onerous exercise by a man that I have always called my dependable ally and partner in the restoration project. Accordingly therefore, I announce to you all that my running mate for this election will be Admiral John Gborigboria Jonah (retd.) We are running on a ticket of continuity, stability and consolidation. We are building institutions and stability in our state and that is why I have nominated him to run with me.”
