Senator Seriake Dickson, representing Bayelsa West at the National Assembly, has boasted that he made the right choice by choosing Douye Diri and Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo as Governor and Deputy Governor of the state respectively.
Dickson said those who opposed him over the choice of Diri and Ewhrudjakpo as the flag bearers of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 governorship election had now seen the right decision he took.
The former governor spoke when he paid a yuletide visit to Ofoni, the hometown of the deputy governor in the Sagbama Local Government Area of the state, on Wednesday.
This was contained in a statement on Thursday by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the deputy governor, Doubara Atasi.
Dickson, who handed over the baton of leadership to his successor on February 14, 2020, said he would have been struggling with a heavy moral burden if he had failed in his choice.
He said, “It is now clear to even those who doubted me when I said I prayerfully selected the pair of Senator Diri and Senator Ewhrudjakpo that I made the right choice. I would have been carrying a heavy moral burden, if I had decided otherwise.
“I know the number of people who called, spoke, advised and fought me saying Kolokuma has no vote. And I replied them saying, ‘Are they not part of this state, the local government of Major Isaac Boro and others who had served our people?’
“If I had taken the easy way out, though the fight would have been easier, but I would have left with some moral burden. I would have been querying myself, ‘oh you didn’t give the governorship to this people, when will they have it?’
“I was at the head of the whole thing but as I told people at Sampou (Diri’s hometown), we should always thank God because even the small strength, intellect and indeed everything came from God.”
The senator commended Ewhrudjakpo for his loyalty to Diri and advised him to shun the activities of mischief makers and fifth columnists, whose stock in trade is to cause divisions and strife in the polity.
He pointed out that Bayelsa was in safe hands under Diri and his deputy, and appreciated God for vindicating him and restoring the stolen mandate of the PDP.
Ewhrudjakpo, in his remarks, expressed gratitude to God for using the governor and Dickson to bring his political career to limelight.
He described them as his political godfathers, adding that he could not have attained his current position as deputy governor without the role the two leaders played and therefore, would remain eternally grateful to them.
Speaking on behalf of the Ofoni Federated Community, a chieftain of the PDP, Odiyovwi Osusu, thanked Dickson and members of his entourage for the visit and pledged the community’s continued support.
