It Is Finished… How Jonathan, Wife, Kinsmen Plotted Dickson’s Fall And Dickson weeps

Wild jubilation erupted in all parts of Bayelsa state immediately after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Chief David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the 2019 governorship election in the state.
Indeed, the victory of Lyon is historic and means a lot to so many people. lt is the first time power would be shifting from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition in 20 years of democracy in Bayelsa State.
The APC candidate scored a total of 352,552 votes to trounce his closest rival, Senator Douye Diri of the PDP who polled 143,172 votes. Lyon won six out of the eight local government areas, while Diri won in two LGAs. It was a land slide victory.
The 2019 governorship election has gone down in history as one that came as a political revolution that swept the land of Bayelsa State. Some simply described the election as Hurricane Lyon.
Political pundits are already talking about bitter lessons learnt from the fall of a political party that prides itself as an umbrella that is big enough to cover all of its members and those to which it ought to provide coverage.
Unfortunately, the umbrella was torn into shreds due to what political thinkers consider as a medieval era characterized by political rascality, high-handedness and tyranny that became unbearable for the people to whom sovereignty belong.
Consequently, the people made a loud statement with their PVCs on November 16 and gave the ruling party a quit notice with effect from February 14, 2020.
It was the first time in the history of Bayelsa State that the people would be so resolved and untied against financial inducements to vote the candidate of their choice, exercising their power to enthrone and dethrone.
The defeat of the PDP in Bayelsa State, according to observers of political activities in the past almost eight years, could be attributed to the leadership style of the outgoing restoration government, led by Governor Seriake Dickson.
According to political analysts, the Toru-Orua born Ofurumapepe stepped on so many toes including toes of those whose back he rode to political greatness and recognition, not minding the deadly implication of such actions.
It is often said that it is a dangerous thing to bite the fingers that feed you. It is equally most precarious to push down the ladder with which you climbed up because you may need it some day, in case you need to come down.
“Dickson stepped on the toes of his political godfathers; he stepped on the toes of civil servants and pensioners. The governor stepped on the toes of even the common man, the electorate so much so that there was no one left to stand behind him when chips were down,” a retired civil servant, who pleaded anonymity to TNN.
The Jonathan Factor
Political eggheads believe that the former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan might have played a very serious role in the huge loss suffered by Seriake Dickson and his candidate for the gubernatorial election which has been won by David Lyon of the APC.
The results that were churned out from Ogbia, Jonathan’s local government area showed some kind of rebellion against the PDP candidate, Senator Douye Diri, whom Dickson anointed and empowered.
It is on record that Jonathan influenced every opportunity that Dickson had ever enjoyed in his political trajectory, starting from his appointment as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, member Federal House of Representatives as well as the governorship of Bayelsa State, which he enjoys up to this moment.
However, the average Ogbia man has noted with anger, disappointment and regret, that the only way Dickson could reward Jonathan for changing his life for the better was to insult, disrespect and disregard him and relegate the Ogbia Brotherhood to the background at every slightest opportunity.
This led to the withdrawal of all political bigwigs of the Ogbia extraction from the PDP, a few weeks to the governorship election and the implication of their well thought-out action was a landslide victory for the APC in Ogbia local government area for the first time in history.
Maxwell Oko, Other Ogbia Leaders React
A son of Ogbia Brotherhood and the Executive Director designate, Finance and Administration of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Maxwell Oko said his joy knew no bounds as Lyon would link Bayelsa to the federal government where development would be attracted to the state.
“I want to say a big congratulations to Chief David Lyon, the governor-elect of Bayelsa state. This is a new beginning in the history of our state as Bayelsans in the past eight years have been suffering, crying and yearning for change.
“Thank God Bayelsans have spoken and Nigerians and indeed the entire world can here the voices of Bayelsans who have demonstrated their determination at the polling units. As you can see, as a family, as a people and as a kingdom, we are celebrating the victory.
“It is not the victory of David Lyon alone, it is the victory of Bayelsans, it is the victory of the ljaw Nation. What Bayelsans expect from David Lyon is simple, good governance.
“As a leader, there are certain things you need to do. You have to make Bayelsans happy. I understand that for the past eight years, pensioners have not been paid their gratuities. Civil servants have suffered from salary cut. The power situation has gone worse.
“As commissioner for energy eight years ago, l had no generator in my house. Then, every Bayelsan had my number because I used to go to the radio and tell Bayelsans to call me if they did not have light in their homes because we all depended on public power.
“Today, rather than for the power situation to improve from the forty thousand megawatts that we left behind, the power situation is now zero. No workable government water supply.
“David Lyon is the true representative of good governance and I know he will make Bayelsans proud.
“With the leader of the party and former governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva and David Lyon as governor come February, 2020, in collaboration with my office at NDDC as executive director of finance and administration, l am convinced and I make a promise to Bayelsans that this combination will be the next level step in 2020.
…Enegesi too
Also speaking, the pioneer chairman of the PDP in Bayelsa state and a leader in Ogbia Kingdom, Chief Claudius Enegesi, while reacting to the outcome of the election told TNN that the Ogbia Brotherhood had become too politically advanced to be aligned with medieval politics, hence they left Dickson.
“I am one of the happiest persons in the world today. It will interest you to note that I was a stalwart of the PDP few weeks ago. But I decided to join the All Progressives Congress to strengthen the APC here and for one to move from one party to another and victory is here, l think I should be very happy.
“We left the PDP because of the very primitive rulership and greed. At this age of development in this country and in the world at large, politics is being played as if it is hundred years ago; medieval politics, it’s unacceptable.
“In a state like Bayelsa state where we need development and we have the resources, we don’t need anything else. You have been here, moving round Yenagoa, which is the capital of a state for the past 23 years, and it looks like a glorified village.
“If federal allocation comes, l think we have one of the highest federal allocation. It is very disheartening that a young man, who, from obscurity, was given the privilege to lead a state to build, has rather retrogressed us. That’s the outcome.”