Why I stopped pro-Jonathan rally in Bayelsa, by Dickson

 

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has explained why he backed the stopping of a pro-Jonathan rally by the police at Community Secondary School, Opolo, Yenagoa, at the weekend.

The rally was organised by a group, New Dawn Initiative Development (NDID), to drum support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.

The group, allegedly floated by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Affairs, Waripamowei Dudafa, who hails from Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area of the state, had duly obtained police permission to hold the rally, it was learnt. Dudafa is said to be positioning himself to unseat Dickson in 2016.

State Commissioner for Police, Hilary Opara, who gave reasons for the disruption, said the action of the police “was premised on the available intelligence to the command that a splinter group had perfected plans to attack and disrupt the rally which could lead to a breach of peace”.

Dickson, in a statement at the weekend signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said he endorsed the action of the police because if the rally went on, some hooligans would have taken advantage of the opportunity to cause mayhem and create the impression that the President’s home state was riddled with insecurity in a bid to rubbish him.

He stated also that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had not released their timetables and as such “no group or individual” in the state would be allowed to mobilise support for Jonathan’s re-election next year.

“If the rally was allowed to go on, some unscrupulous persons could take advantage of it to unleash mayhem in the state to give the impression that, there is crisis in Mr. President’s home state in a bid to spite him”, he said.

“We also must remind ourselves that the Independent National Electoral Commission and even the Peoples Democratic Party have not released their time tables and so, no group or individual is permitted to embark on any political rallies, and such will be seen as a ploy by the individual to use the name of the President to pursue his or her own selfish ambitions.”