From: Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Barely 24 hours after the Bayelsa State House of Assembly passed a vote of confidence on Governor Henry Seriake Dickson for his performance since 2012, the All Progressive Congress (APC) has lashed out at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-controlled government, declaring that the posturing of Governor Dickson that the PDP would produce the next governor of Bayelsa state was a mere pipe dream.
Governor Dickson had, recently, during the inauguration of the Contact and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP, said there was no team that could defeat the PDP in any election in the state.
Also, Speaker of the state’s House of Asssembly, Hon. Friday Konbowei Benso, had said the PDP was indispensable in Bayelsa State.
However, in a direct response, Chairman of the APC in the state, Mr. Joseph Fafi, said the PDP declaration was a pipe dream, and that the APC remained the only viable option before Bayelsans.
Fafi stated this in Yenagoa during a call on him by the state sxecutive of the Bayelsa Federated Newspaper Publishers Association (BAFENPA) of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ). The APC leader noted that the party had put behind it the regrettable incidents and crises that rocked the party in the past.
According to him, despite the occupation of power in the state since inception by the PDP and the emergence of the President under the party in the State, Bayelsa state can no longer afford to play opposition politics.
Fafi who disclosed that the APC would soon organise a ceremony to receive people defecting from other political parties especially the PDP to its fold, urged the leadership of BAFENPA to spread the message that APC’s doors is open to Bayelsans.
“We cannot be left behind; we must join forces and partner with other progressive states, so as to move our State forward. That is why APC is the only viable option we have today in Bayelsa State. They are only day-dreaming. PDP has failed in Bayelsa. APC is at the centre and we cannot afford to play opposition in the state any more as aligning with the centre would be in the best interest of the state. It holds tremendous benefit for the state,” he said.