Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Youths from the Bayelsa State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) under the aegis of PDP Youth Network (PDPYN) have dismissed as “tissues of lies” claims of Chief Don Evarada, a former aide to Governor Seriake Dickson who rated Gov Dickson’s administration low.
Evarada erstwhile Special Adviser on Urban Security to Dickson who defected recently to the All Progressives Congress (APC) had appeared on a national television alongside another chieftain of the party, Chief Indutimi Komonibo, to criticised the incumbent PDP government for poor performance.
PDPYN in a statement signed by its spokesman, Ebibowei Seighaowei, said the duo laboured hard to spread lies about the Dickson administration to deceive Nigerians.
The group alleged that Evarada was bitter against Dickson and the PDP because he was not made a cabinet member which he lobbied unsuccessfully for.
It said no amount of lies would erase the sterling performance of the Dickson administration in Bayelsa State in the last seven years.
The statement read in part “Evarada was brought into the Restoration Government by Governor Seriake Dickson from the State Action Council on AIDS (SACA) where he was the spokesman. He was appointed as Special Adviser on Public Affairs and later Special Adviser on Urban Crime Management. It is on record that Don Evarada lobbied to be Commissioner for Information and Orientation but could not get the job and became aggrieved ever since. He moved over to the APC few days ago and has now started a campaign of calumny against Dickson and the PDP.
“Of course, we are in a political season and Evarada has now found himself a ready tool in the hands of the APC to spread mischief and blackmail even against his former benefactor. But we are not really surprised considering Evarada’s past which is still hunting him.
“With this clarification, we wish to alert the public to the fact that Don Evarada was only ventilating his frustrations over his terrible state of mind. Governor Seriake Dickson’s place in the substantive leadership history of Bayelsa State is already secure and come November 16, he will lead the PDP to victory. But setting the record straight, we wish to state without equivocation that Governor Seriake Dickson has etched his name in gold in Bayelsa State as a result of his extra-ordinary performance in office in his close to eight years in the saddle. This has been well documented and validated by well-meaning Bayelsans including our leader, the former President Goodluck Jonathan, who recently said publicly that Governor Dickson had exceeded expectations in his leadership and performance.