Bayelsa says gov’s ex-aide is an ingrate

The Bayelsa State Government has called on Bayelsans, and Nigerians in general, to ignore media reports of the purported “resignation” of a former Senior Special Assistant to Governor Henry Seriake Dickson on Non-Indigenes in the state, Mr Chinedu Mbah, describing him as ungrateful.

Mbah was reported to have resigned due to indebtedness of the state in salaries and allowances.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the governor on Treasury and Accounts, Mr Timipre Seipulou, described Mbah’s claim as malicious and a well calculated attempt to impugn on the reputation of the Dickson-led Restoration Government.

According to him, the government has always lived up to its financial obligations to workers and was “not owing any of his aides including Mbah.”

He said, “Available financial records reveal that Mbah was paid his remunerations to date just like any other political appointee in the state before his purported claim of resignation.

“Mbah is only acting the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and particularly for his master and former Chief of Staff to Governor Dickson and now an APC governorship aspirant, Chief Dikivie Ikiogha, who recommended him for appointment. Going by the facts on ground, it is clear that it is only a desperate and ungrateful man that can make such malicious claims.”

Read also: Saraki, Tinubu battle for soul of Bayelsa

While describing Mbah’s claims as politically motivated and a deliberate attempt to smear the good image of the restoration government under the watch of Governor Dickson, the statement added that government is not in any way perturbed by Mbah’s so-called resignation since he had long before now crossed to the APC with his master and benefactor.

He said, “Ordinarily I would not have reacted to the spurious and false claims made by the so called Mbah. But to put the records straight and save the unsuspecting public from being misinformed, I want to unequivocally state here that the Bayelsa State Government is not owing its workers and appointees. It is now public knowledge that this is one of the few states in Nigeria that has not failed in meeting its financial obligations especially in terms of payment of salaries.

“Mr Chinedu Mbah is only acting true to type. He is doing the bidding of his master and the opposition party, which his master now belong to. But I can assure you that our government is not losing sleep over his purported “resignation” because he (Chinedu) was more of a liability to our government seeing that his exit was widely celebrated by majority of the non-indigenous people in the state. But my advice is that people should learn how to play politics and not pay good with evil because of their inordinate political ambitions”, the statement added.

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