“It is a sad day for all democrats; it’s a sad day for Rivers State and a sad day for our (Ijaw) people. I urge everyone to put on their thinking caps. I urge our people to lift up their spirits as we will get over this together”
Former Bayelsa State governor and Senator representing Bayelsa West, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson has rejected the declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State.
Dickson in his reaction on his official Facebook page, said the suspension of the governor and the deputy governor from office for six months was not the intention of the drafters of the Nigerian Constitution.
According to him, his opposition to the State of Emergency is not based on party or ethnic affiliation but on principle.
‘’While we are all aware of the prolonged political disputes in the state, I do not support the declaration of a state of emergency, especially when that is taken to mean that the Governor and his Deputy will vacate their seats for six months. I don’t believe that is the intendment of the constitution, and that has been my position on matters like this even when we had a PDP President.
“I have always opposed declarations of emergency in states that meant that their governors would vacate their offices, and this is no exception. I have always had the view that even with the declaration of a state of emergency in a state, the elected government must be protected and need not be removed,’’ he wrote.
Dickson who pointed out that he had spent all his adult life fighting and defending Ijaw people, ‘’even when leaders, out of envy and wickedness, sponsor propaganda and misinformation, added that to keep anti-Ijaw forces at bay he had ensured he had a successor in Bayelsa.
He pointed out that he fought and defeated anti-Ijaw forces in 2015, 2019, and 2020 and wondered what had become of the Ijaw nation.
‘’It is a sad day for all democrats. It’s a sad day for Rivers State and a sad day for our people. I urge everyone to put on their thinking caps. I urge our people to lift up their spirits as we will get over this together,’’ he said.
