The battle for the gubernatorial ticket of PDP

THE battle for the gubernatorial ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State in the 2012 governorship election took a bend, on Monday, following the adoption of a member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Seriake Dickson, by a group loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan, the Green Movement.

The movement, in a statement on Monday, said its decision was reached after a meeting attended by members of the group at the weekend.

The Green Movement had produced President Goodluck Jonathan as its gubernatorial candidate in 2006, before he emerged the running mate to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

In the statement endorsed by its principal officers, including Dr Tarila Tebepah, chairman; Bishop B.W. Deyi-Eremienyo, secretary and His Royal Highness A.J Turner, the treasurer, said it adopted Honourable Dickson because of his track record of loyalty and performance.

The movement stated in adopting Dickson, it was withdrawing support from Governor Timipre Sylva, the incumbent Bayelsa State governor, over alleged non-performance.

“The Green Movement, which emerged in Bayelsa in 2004, has become virtually the mainstream grouping within the Bayelsa PDP and was the vehicle for Sylva’s election in 2007 after Dr Goodluck Jonathan, its initial candidate for governor, stepped up as presidential running mate, but its members decided at a meeting that Sylva did not merit their continued support,” the statement read.

According to a communique issued  by the movement after its meeting in Abuja, the decision to present Honourable Dickson for the governorship election in Bayelsa was based on “his track record of loyalty, consistency, capacity to execute the transformation agenda and to promote peace, harmony and development in the state.

“Dickson, a former attorney-general of Bayelsa State, is a second-term member of the House of Representatives, where he represents the Sagbama constituency. He has chaired the House Committee on Justice and now leads the Special Duties committee. All lovers of Bayelsa State should support this lofty project.”