Former governor of Bayelsa State and Senator representing Bayelsa West in the Nigerian Senate, Seriake Dickson, has taken a swipe at the ruling party in the country, saying he thought poverty and other challenges of Nigeria would disappear following their emergence in 2015.
Dickson, while speaking at the 60th birthday colloquium of a former governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, in Abuja, said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) grabbed power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 by labeling the party “clueless”.
Reacting to an earlier comment by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar accusing the APC-led government of weaponising poverty, Senator Dickson said 11 years down the line of APC rule in Nigeria, the challenges are still there.
“On a light note, when I came in here and climbing stage, I saw a lot of you and like my brother El-Rufai has said; there are a number of you who are expert conspirators. Who know how to assemble a coalition and then take over the government as you did to my party in 2015.
“And when you did so, particularly to a clueless government, so-called; now 11 years down the line, we thought that there would have been no weaponisation of poverty. And that all the challenges of Nigeria would’ve been gone. But 11 years down the line, here we are, assembled to still bemoan the defeat of our country,” he said.
Earlier, Dickson had praised the celebrant, Amaechi, for his work in Rivers State during his tenure as governor. According to the Senator, Amaechi built security and flushed criminals out of the state, among other key milestones.
He added that while it was good for governors to build roads and bridges, it’s not enough. Dickson stated that what must be top priorities of every governor is security, education, and healthcare.
Also comment on a speech by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who spoke earlier at the event, on ongoing efforts to unseat the ruling APC through coalition, Dickson advised those involved in the process to be watchful.
“And the only advice I can give, not being a professional coalition builder and conspirators as some of you are, is that this time, shine your eyes. As you build coalition, shine your eyes,” Senator Dickson cautioned.
and then