Former Bayelsa State governor and Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, has maintained his innocence over allegations of diversion of public funds.
He made the declaration on Thursday when council chairmen from Bayelsa State paid him a solidarity visit.
Senator Dickson was quizzed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sequel to a petition on the discrepancy in his declaration of assets form and diversion of funds meant to mitigate flood disaster in the South-South state.
The former Bayelsa State governor dismissed the alleged financial sleaze during his eight years of stewardship while he said that he has declared the assets in question which he acquired before he became governor to the Code of Conduct Bureau for the fifth time.
He said that the indisputable evidence of the declaration of the assets are before the Code of Conduct Bureau and the investigating body, the EFCC.
Shedding more light on the alleged diversion of N17.5 billion flood funds, Senator Dickson maintained that no such donation was received during his administration.
He however revealed that the only fund received for the 2012 flood disaster was N500 million received from the Chairman of Globacom, Chief Mike Adenuga.
Senator Dickson further lamented that the call of the state government for donations as a result of the devastating effect of the flood was ignored by the Federal Government.
He said that the petition written by the NGO had no name of the donor and the name of the bank that received or transferred the N17.5 billion.
He said: “I am happy with the support that I continue to get and what you people are still doing, supporting the state government in building a strong party and the governor.
“I thank you for your relentless support and services to our dear state. You all know our track record and all that we did even in the management of the councils and our attitude to public finances. So there shouldn’t be any worry. We are not in doubt that the investigating institution will be fair in this issue.
“I assure our people that we have nothing to hide. The allegation about flood donation was frivolous as there was no such thing. The state government under my leadership had to support the flood committee headed by General Azazi with N1 billion and another N250 million.
“It is also untrue that I did not declare the assets in question to the Code of Conduct Bureau. As a matter of fact, I have declared them for the 5th time.”
Leader of the delegation and Chairman of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Mr Nigeria Kia said that it would be unacceptable to the grassroots for anybody to take deliberate action to bring down the senator whom they described as one of the most vocal voices in the Niger Delta.
The council chairmen called on the Federal Government to ensure fairness in the ongoing probe of allegations made against Senator Dickson by a non-governmental organization.
They pledged their support to Senator Dickson for his unique leadership style which they said created the opportunity for them to be council chairmen.
They noted that Dickson has the record of a governor who did not touch local government funds for eight years.
“Having heard and seen what happened to our father and leader yesterday, we deemed it fit to pay a solidarity visit to him as our father in politics who has made it possible for us to be where we are today,
“If we, the grassroots politicians, who have enjoyed the support of our father heard this and we don’t avail ourselves the opportunity to visit him, it will not be well with us. That is why we are here to support him and pray that all will be well with him by God special grace.
“And also to let the government and the authorities know that our father today is one of the voices (if not the loudest) in the Niger Delta and this idea of bringing down the voice of the Niger Delta is unacceptable to the grass root politicians.
“It is also our humble prayer that those in authority should be very rational in taking any decision or any action they want to take in this matter.
“We are with you and will still stand firm and strong with you,” Kia said.
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