APC: Dickson Lobbying Buhari ahead of Bayelsa Supplementary Election

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State are at loggerheads over the purpose of Governor Seriake Dickson’s alleged visit on Tuesday to the Presidential Villa to see President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of next week’s governorship supplementary election in the state.

The APC in a statement signed by Chief Nathan Egba had lamented that Dickson had gone to Aso Rock to lobby the president who however snubbed the governor by refusing to meet with him.

Egba insisted that the governor’s action about 10 days to the election was a “sign of desperation” and an “acceptance of defeat” by him (Dickson).

But the PDP in a swift reaction denied the APC claim, saying Dickson’s visit to Aso Rock was never to lobby the President Buhari.

According to APC, Dickson allegedly visited the president to seek a soft in the landing in event that he is defeated in the re-run election, insisting that: “Dickson lacks the moral right to seek audience with President Buhari after disrespecting the office of the president with series of abuses and name calling following the outcome of the inconclusive election.”

The APC chieftain expressed joy that the audience sought by Dickson was not granted by the president, as he was directed to see the president’s Chief of Staff instead.

But the PDP in a statement issued yesterday in Yenagoa by the Director of Media and Publicity for the Restoration Campaign Organisation, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite, said the claims by the APC were a set of “lies and figment of their imagination.”

According to him, “The claim of the APC is filled with lies. And it is sad that the APC in the state think the governor would visit Aso Rock without any previous appointment and such statement by the APC was a lie.

“It’s almost like a no brainer for any discerning mind to know that nobody just wakes up in the morning, get dressed and head straight to the Villa without being invited or having a prior appointment.

“For crying out loud, it is inconceivable for anyone to assume, much less believe that the governor of an oil rich state that contributes over 40 percent of the nation’s wealth will be denied access to see the president.”

Obuebite dismissed the report, describing it as “non-essential and not worthy of any response.”

He stressed that the governorship election had already been won and lost, and therefore not surprising that the APC in the state was still carrying on in their usual deception as if they still stand a chance.

“The APC has lost and they know it. No amount of propaganda and blackmail will return them as winners. They have been roundly rejected by the people and we truly sympathise with them because the APC is finished in Bayelsa State,” Obuebite declared.