Bayelsa reacts to alleged rift between ex-President Jonathan, Gov Dickson

Governorship aspirants under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State have been warned to desist from using perceived rift between former President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson for their smear political campaigns.

The warning was contained in a statement released by Governor Dickson’s special adviser on media, Fidelis Soriwei, on Sunday.

The statement was in response to parallel publications against the governor and Jonathan.

Bayelsa Government said the publications were sponsored by “desperate politicians” aspiring to be next the governor of the state. It added that the publications were targeted at deepening and taking advantage of disagreement and fault lines in the state.

The government, therefore, called on all PDP aspirants to try and make the people know their development agenda for the state and stop using underhand tactics.

“Our attention has been drawn to a scurrilous publication targeted at the former President. We have also seen the reaction from people suspected to be the former President’s publicists.

“We decry the situation where politicians seeking to contest the governorship election in the state sponsor parallel publications against the governor, his government and his team, and the former President, his family and his team, thereby deepening and taking advantage of disagreement and fault lines in the state.

“We have read the publication by the PDP Youth Network and we condemn any attack on the former President. Our suspicion from all preliminary enquiries is pointing in the direction of some desperate governorship aspirants who are doing everything possible to deepen division in the state especially between the governor and the former President for their own selfish advantage.

“They are doing this because they are aware of the meetings and consultations a few days ago, between the governor and the former President and the governor’s statement concerning the ambitions of some politicians.

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“Our suspicion is that those desperate aspirants are sponsoring publications to take advantage of supposed disagreement between the two leaders of the PDP. The government urges the aspirants to leave the governor and the former President out of the governorship race and concentrate on what they would do and their agenda for the people of the state,” the statement read.

Insisting that Governor Dickson had no hand in the opinion article, Soriwei, urged all aides and supporters to devote their energy to the propagation of the benefitting policies and numerous programmes of the government.

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