Transparency, Accountability ‎are the secret of our success story in Bayelsa ―Dickson

BAYELSA State Governor, Honourable Henry Seriake ‎Dickson at the weekend revealed that transparency and accountability were the secrets behind the success story of his administration in the state since he assumed office with an assurance that he would not deviate from the noble course for any reason.

Governor Dickson stated this in Abuja when he was honoured as the best Governor of 2017 in Transparency and Accountability by the Management and Staff of the Daar Communication Plc at its Second Awards Ceremony.

According to him, “whereas it is very good as we sometimes do to lay emphasis on the physical development which we call the dividends of democracy.” The roads, the bridges and the schools, we do a lot of that in our state.

” But far and above all of these, there must be a deliberate effort on the part of political leaders to promote what I call the intangible but nonetheless equally significant dividends of democracy that you don’t see in the form of roads and bridges but which are the very important cornerstone of democratic service.

“Paradigms such as transparency and accountability which will empower our people to know what we are elected to do on their behalf.”

The Governor pointed out that his administration’s commitment to transparency informed his decision to stand before the people every month to keep them abreast of the conduct of government’s business, saying that “failure to do so amounts to gross misconduct which can lead to impeachment outrightly.”

“What we are doing in Bayelsa by law is to make it compulsory for me as the governor to render account and I hope after my tenure, the next governor will also stand before the people of Bayelsa every month and publicly announce to them revenue that has come into the state and how they are disbursed.”

“The revolutionary aspect of this legislation, the policy we have adopted over the past six years is that the law has a provision that if that (rendering of account) is not complied with in three months consecutively, that should amount to gross misconduct and you all know the consequences of that.”

“We have faithfully complied with this and I want to say that has helped my government and my state in no small measure and assure that nothing will make me deviate from this noble course which is a covenant between me and my God.”

While receiving the award, Dickson thanked the management and staff of DAAR Communications Plc for recognizing the input of his administration in Bayelsa, noting that “accountability and transparency are as important as the tangible dividends of democracy.”

Also honoured at the occasion are Mohammed Umar Jibrilla Bindo, Akinwumi Ambode, David Umahi and Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, ‎the Executives governors of Adamawa, Lagos, Ebonyi and Jigawa states respectively.