Ahead of the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed as habitual deception and mudslinging an allegation by Governor Seriake Dickson that the party was about to form “a government of criminals and cultists” in the state.
Dickson had made the claim on Monday in Yenagoa at the inauguration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship election campaign team.
In a statement on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the state chapter of APC dismissed the claim as “Dickson’s normal, customary and habitual trickery, meant to hide his nervousness by defaming the opponent, when jittery and faced with tough political opposition.”
The statement signed by APC’s State Publicity Secretary and Secretary of the party’s 2019 Governorship Campaign Council, Doifie Buokoribo, said, “At its elemental level, Governor Seriake Dickson’s deception machine has essentially run on creating falsehood around formidable opponents as a ploy to justify intended poll rigging and violence.
“The most basic step in this criminal strategy, as the whole world is witnessing currently, has always been to identify intimidating rivals they cannot stand in a fair poll, cast mud at them, and then activate an electoral manipulation process, using thugs, corrupt officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and some dishonest security personnel.
“The immoral scheme had worked for Dickson in the past, but it will never work again.
“We know it as a matter of fact that Governor Dickson has converted the Bayelsa State Government House into a den of thieves and criminals. He even appointed known lawless elements as Local Government Council Caretaker Chairmen in the past.
“Bayelsa people have come to know Dickson and his gang in PDP for what they are: a band of tricksters devoid of ideas and integrity.
“If not, why would a serious politician spend all his energy calling out and singing the name of an opponent at a campaign launch when the electorate are eager to hear and see what the one seeking their vote has in stock for them. As always, this demonstrates the emptiness of Dickson and his gang.
“APC is not distracted by those tricks and manifestation of defeat. Dickson and his cohorts in PDP will suffer the inevitable outcome of embodying the elemental forces of failure: they will be roundly defeated by APC at the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State.”