Sylva's Tenure In Bayelsa Was A Failure – Alamieyeseigha

The first civilian Governor of Bayelsa, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha has rated the administration of Governor Seriake Dickson, high above his predecessor, Chief Timipre Sylva in terms of infrastructural development and socio-economic policies in the last four years, declaring the need for the people of the state to reelect the incumbent for a second term in office.

Alamieyeseigha  said though he is not out to castigate the six-year administration of Sylva, it is indubitable that Dickson's administration has done more with noticeable infrastructural development in most parts of the state despite thd challenges of dwindling revenue and finances.

The former Governor, who made his position known on Saturday in his country home in Ammassoma community of Southern Ijaw Local Government area, said that the six and half years of Sylva were characterized with lack of continuity of projects left behind by Goodluck Jonathan as Governor.

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Alamieyeseigha said: “Our problem has been the continuation of policies and programme of government. I served this state for six and a half years, Goodluck came in, served one year, the remaining six months he was campaigning for the office of the Vice President, Governor Timipre Sylva came in, of course I didn't see anything visible on ground. I am not castigating him, but you could walk from Igbogene to Swali market, I did not see anything that was added to what I left behind, even to complete the project I started was a problem.

"I feel very bitter when you come to government with good intention, you start a project for the good of the people and that project is abandoned. So, that period I think was a setback. Dickson has come in, we can now drive to places that were impossible before and we can see changes, new things were springing up before the economic crisis hit the country, it is not only peculiar to Bayelsa state. I think he would have even done better because he was so ambitious, he wants to accomplish everything in four years. So if you bring him in the second tenure, he would master the ropes, he will no longer learn.

"There is nobody that goes into an office and will just take off, so I think those that are planning to stay in the party and do anti party activities against the emergence of Governor Dickson, will definitely change their minds as there will be no basis for that. It is the same people that will nominate him on the day of the party primaries, if they don't want him they should not vote for him in the primary to elect him, if he is elected he has become a candidate of the party, of course the Supreme Court has ruled that it is party that goes into election. Unless you are a party man, you cannot do otherwise."

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On the recent defections by some chieftains of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) into the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2016 Governorship election, Alamieyeseigha, said his interaction with the aggrieved PDP members had showed that they were only protecting their selfish interests rather than collective interest within the party.

Alameiseigha who is also as the Chairman of PDP’s Reconciliation Committee said, “My interaction with most of them, even today I spoke with some of them and their agitation is about economic and self-interest.

“As chairman of the reconciliation Committee, we had invited the aggrieved members. We dialogued with them and most of them saw reasons with us, and the whole thing is about self-interest. It is either they have not been given appointment, their severance allowance during Timipre Sylva administration has not been paid or they were not picked as candidates in the last general elections.

"Then I asked the question, must it always be you (Sylva)? Must these set of people always be the ones to be picked in every election? You complete your assignment you handover to another person. It cannot always be you alone every time. There is time for everything, so basically that is the problem. By the time we go into the party primaries all the noise you are hearing will die down, because it is only one candidate that the party will present. APC, APGA will also present one candidate each.

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"In our country, party politics is not based on ideology. People are only interested in what they are going to grab at the moment. I am sure you are aware that some PDP members in the state are defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), some of them are doing that for lack of understanding. May be they are thinking that when they defect to APC they will get more benefits. For those members from Bayelsa that defected to APC, I pity them because APC does not even know them. 

They were not involved in the election of the President Buhari, they were not there; some people worked hard to elect him and other members of the National Assembly and State Assembly."

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