Why We Want Dickson In Senate- Tolu

Hon. Henry Dickson

Hon. Tolu Amatu, a former Chairman of Ekeremor Local Government Area and the current Executive Chairman of Environmental Sanitation Authority and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Bayelsa state, speaks to TrackNews Online on the swelling support for former governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson for the forth-coming Bayelsa West Senatorial District by-election.

What is the special thing about Seriake Dickson candidacy for the forthcoming Bayelsa West senato­rial district election?

It is very appropriate because the National Assembly, partic­ularly the Senate or the Red Chambers, should not be the place for mediocre. You have to send your first eleven or your best hands. For Seriake Dick­son, he is tested, trusted and ca­pable. He has been the Attorney General of the State, member of the House of Representatives for two terms and has been gov­ernor for eight years. He has equally succeeded in bringing a lot of infrastructure devel­opment to the state despite the particularly difficult terrain of the state. He has several legacy projects, and being in the Sen­ate will be a plus for the state and not a liability, having built the first airport in the state where others before him could not venture.

Coming to our own Senatori­al District, Bayelsa West, where I come from—Ekeremor, he is from Sagbama—the two areas that make up the zone, the only road that has been on the draw­ing board for construction for the past 40 years and dated back to the days of the NPN, no gov­ernment ever thought of doing that project. Seriake Dickson, being the kind of person he is, a man with a lion heart, went into that project. As we speak today, you can drive to Ekere­mor, the capital of Ekeremor local government area. We see him as a person we can trust. He is reliable and with the ex­perience he has garnered over the years, voting him in as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for us is an added advantage.

Honestly if it is not for de­mocracy where people must vote and be voted for elective offices, I would have even preferred we return him un­opposed. Our people will just say for the good works he has done over the years, mostly as governor of the state for eight years, and the quality perfor­mance we would have just said let him go to the Senate and continue serving the state in that capacity.

The truth is that I don’t see anybody in the area matching Dickson to run for that elec­tion or unsettling him as far as Bayelsa West District is con­cerned because he is our first eleven, he is a great leader and a man courageous enough to dare positively. He is a man that we all know that can represent us very well at the national lev­el because he is true Ijaw son and will speak for the entire Ijaw nation spread across sev­eral states in Nigeria and West Africa. Not just Sagbama and Ekeremor, but the state also. We really want him to be there.

Many want him to take the back seat having served the state as Attorney General, two-term member of the House of Repre­sentatives and as Governor of the state?

How can one say that Seriake Dickson should go and rest? He is a young man under his about 54 years. He is not old yet and we still need his services, which you must know is very important to us at this time of nation­al development. It is just like taking a soldier for training, going through the best mili­tary schools and academy in the world and you bring him back to Nigeria and you now say you are retiring him. I am not just talking because I want to talk but, as you know he has learned the ropes, he has passed through the political process and he knows what is best for the area and state.

We are even confining him by talking about Senate. This man knows every clan, community and area of the state. He is deep in knowledge and history and has a wide network of friends nationally to help him navigate the murky waters of politics. From the grassroots level, to the governorship he is exposed. Now that he is still very active, we need his services more be­cause of the wide contact he has established over the years. The National Assembly is where you have former gover­nors, and ministers as well as the Who is Who in Nigeria. So he won’t be swallowed by the system there but will be rele­vant in the politics.

We should be able to have the calibre of a man like Hen­ry Seriake Dickson so that we can have more dividends of democracy, somebody that can speak for your people and not people who will go there, col­lect allowances, think about their pockets, their family and above all warm the bench. Or even go there to sleep while his colleagues are slugging it out. Yes, Dickson has been tested, he has been in the National As­sembly since he was elected to the House of Representatives, chairing important committees and initiating several bills and motions, which were passed. Some of his colleagues then are now Senators. So who told you that he wouldn’t be relevant to us in the National Assembly again?

With the quality of service and experience garnered over the years, we really want him. I am not just speaking for myself, but our people, we don’t want him to retire. Let him go the Senate as long as we all want him. In advanced democracies like the United States, the Sen­ate is not made of charlatans but tested and trusted men who the people want to repre­sent their interest and work in concert with colleagues and his people to bring real democratic dividends home.

You are just speaking as if the contest is only a PDP affair. All Progressives Congress (APC) equally has a strong presence in Bayelsa West?

You know we don’t have opposition, APC doesn’t have a valid candidate. The federal high court in Yenagao has already disqualified their candidate. Well, even if there is opposition or candidate, the truth is that APC in Bayelsa state is a confused party as we speak. In a free and fair election, APC cannot win election in the state be­cause I know that by the time they start the primaries, they are already fighting. Can you point at any person in our Sen­atorial district in APC that can match the current form of Se­riake Dickson? I tell you none of them. At the end of the day, they will all come and work for him because they don’t have the qualities that we are looking for in a leader to go to the National Assembly, most es­pecially at the Red Chambers, which is the Senate.

You have to understand that PDP, I can’t say is the only party in the state, but also the dominant and most organised in the state. What happened during the 2019 National As­sembly elections and the Gov­ernorship elections, results were written and forced on our people to accept. Of course you have seen how God had his way, and through the apex court of highly honourable and respect­ed judges it was upturned in fa­vour of PDP. This time around, we are going to vote, protect our votes and match them strength for strength till the results are declared. Whatever illegalities they are planning; we would stop it. People will come out to vote and protect and defend their votes. I am not bothered about their antics. We know who is who in the Senatorial district. All the key stakehold­ers in Bayelsa West are in PDP and we have been speaking and coming together. I don’t want to start mentioning names but they are all backing Seriake Dickson whom we see as a leader.