The Bayelsa State Governor, Governor Seriake Dickson, on Tuesday reacted to reports in some sections of the media attributing the recent minor cabinet shake up in the State to rifts between him, President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, saying he is “not at war with the President.”
A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, described the reports as trivial, misrepresentation of facts and a deliberate propagation of falsehood by mischief makers,
According to him, some of the reports captioned; “Bayelsa: Dickson, first lady’s rift consumes two female officials” and “Dickson rejigs cabinet, sacks Jonathan’s loyalists”, were clearly intended to cause bad blood between the Governor and the Jonathan’s family.
The statement reads: “The reports even went further to insinuate that, some of the individuals, who were affected in the shake up were dropped because they attended the President’s arrival and departure activities at Otuoke over the weekend against the Governor’s directive not to participate.
“This again, is total mischief and a figment of the imagination of the writer, because Governor Dickson, his wife Rachael, his Deputy, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John-Jonah, retd, top Government functionaries and traditional rulers, were not only at Otuoke to welcome Mr. President, his wife and members of their entourage, but also attended the traditional marriage of the President’s niece and other activities on the itinerary of the President.
“It therefore, beats our imagination that, the Governor will in one breath direct people not to attend an event, when he, himself was part of the entire itinerary of the President in the State.
“While, we acknowledge, believe and will always adhere to the principles of the freedom of the press, we wish to appeal to members of the press to desist from the unwholesome practice of insinuating, misconstruing and misinterpreting the policies of the government to create disaffection between key stakeholders of the State.
“Having been in the saddle for nearly 3 years, it was enough time for the Countriman Governor assess his appointees and make necessary changes to bring about the needed changes to impact more positively on the people of the State.
And, this was well captured in the Government statement announcing the changes: ‘In furtherance of his commitment to deliver more robustly on its administration’s restoration agenda, Governor Seriake Dickson has stepped up efforts geared towards re-organizing the machinery of the government.’
“It must also be noted that, this is not the first cabinet shake up under the Restoration Government of Hon. Seriake Dickson and this will surely not be the last, as it is a continous exercise, intended to ensure a more robust delivery of the dividends of democracy to Bayelsans.”
