BAYELSA GUBER: IYC COMMENDS DICKSON FOR CREATING A LEVEL PLAYING GROUND FOR ASPIRANTS

...SAYS CANDIDATES SHOULD BE ASSESSED ON COMPETENCE RATHER THAN TENDENCIES TO SHARE PUBLIC FUNDS

By Pat PA Okon

The Ijaw Youth Council has commended the Governor of Bayeksa State, the Honorable Henry Seriake Dickson,

for creating a level playing ground for all aspirants to pursue their  ambitions to govern the state.

The Secretary General of the IYC, World Wide, Mr. Alfred Kemepado, said in a statement on Thursday that Governor Dickson deserved commendation for allowing all aspirants who have ambition to procure the indication of interest and nomination form of the PDP in pursuit of their gubernatorial ambitions.

He said that what the Governor has done was to create the opportunity for all the aspirants with a strong quest to govern the state to test their popularity with the delegates of the PDP during the forthcoming primaries of the party on September 3, 2019.

According to the IYC Scribe, it is in the interest of democracy and its growth    that the Governor resisted the strong temptation to impose any candidate on the party contrary to the rampant practice across states as was the case in Ekiti, Kwarra, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Anambra and several other states .

He stressed that the Governor’s action should serve as a template for others to copy in order to avoid the unhealthy contests occasioned by bitterness and acrimony.

He said that the governor’s action was a courageous display of character and fairness which should be commended by all lovers of democracy and general good.

He said that the IYC was interested in the democratic process of the PDP, the opposition All Progressives Congress  and other major parties because their primaries and their outcomes could record serious effect on Bayelsans and indeed the Ijaw nation.

However, Kemepado called on the political class to reciprocate the action òf the Governor by displaying the expected degree of sacrifice  and modesty in the pursuit of their ambitions in the interest of the state.

He said that it was important for the political class jostling for the ticket of the the various political parties to note that only one person would emerge governor of Bayelsa State and should eschew desperation and the excessive emphasis on the pursuit of self interest.

However, Kemepado said that the events in the Bayelsa PDP where all the  top political office holders in the state have indicated interest in the governorship òf the state was not too healthy.

He noted that while it was good to exercise the freedom that flows from democratic governance, it was also pertinent that those expected to be entrusted with the leadership of the state make some sacrifice in the interest of the general good by showing some coordination.

He also called on the Bayelsa people to make a dispassionate assessment of all the aspirants to ensure that only the best was given the opportunity to take to pick the ticket of the major political parties in the state.

He said that the citizens should focus on competence, capacity, capability, and other qualities rather than the observed emphasis on the tendency of the aspirants to preside over the sharing of public funds.

The IYC Scribe argued that what Bayelsa needs was a leader with the requisite qualities to come up with the policies to continue with the development of the state and not a man to be saddled with the responsibility of sharing public funds.

He cautioned that such an assessment pattern should be discouraged as it was glaringly inimical to the present and future generations of Bayelsans and the Ijaw people.