He was chosen at the primaries of the party held at the Samson Siasia Stadium. Declaring the result of the primaries in which Dickson was the sole candidate, Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel and Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose said the incumbent polled 447 votes.
A total of 476 delegates led by former President Goodluck Jonathan were listed for the exercise. According to Fayose, 452 delegates were accredited and five votes were voided while 24 delegates were absent.
Announcing the result at the conclusion of the voting process, Fayose said: “By the power conferred on me as the chairman of the panel, Dickson is hereby retuned as PDP governorship candidate for the December 5 polls having scored the highest valid votes of 447.’’
In his acceptance speech, an elated Governor Dickson lauded the delegates for their peaceful conduct promising not to betray the confidence reposed in him. He also used the opportunity to mock the All Progressives Congress, APC, over its Tuesday’s primaries that were marred by controversy.
His words: “It is with a great sense of humility and gratitude that I stand here before you all my fellow party men with whom I share this honour of being a member of a great party like this, I thank you all today. I am humble today accepting your nomination to be the humble servant of our people to fly the flag of our great party for the governorship elections that are scheduled for December 5 this year.
Governorship elections
“In doing so, I give thanks to God, but I must thank you all for the patience and forbearance and belief and confidence that you all have had not just in me and the former President but in our party and our state. I thank you for standing by us in spite of the machination of a few who fell by the way side. Today, you have all spoken and on December 5, you will speak louder so that Abuja will hear you Bayelsans.
“This party is different from the other party. Few days ago, even when we did what they themselves would not have done- we gave them this stadium to host again their primaries and they made a mess of it. I am told that we don’t have an opponent yet. I am told that the primary was concluded and the other side does not have somebody who has a Certificate of Return, which means they went through an examination but they failed the exams, that there was a lot of cheating, it is not we who are saying it, it is they who are confessing on the pages of newspapers, of fraud and criminality.
“As Governor of this state, having done our part by trying to provide security, giving them state facilities to use, I will like to use this opportunity to condemn in the strongest possible term the attack on citizens of this state. Whether we agree with their political beliefs or not, they do not deserve the treatment that they received on that day, and we are all ashamed because that is not our true nature, our true nature is what we are exhibiting today.
“We are people of peace, a people who organize ourselves well and the difference is very clear. Whereas they are disorganized, we are organized. Whereas they are a party of cultists and criminals we are a party of law abiding citizens.
“Let me call on all our brothers and sisters who fell victims to 419 and one chance that they should come back. Our big umbrella is ever open to accommodate them… We have left Egypt in this state. Those days where we will wake up and see corpses on the streets of Bayelsa is over. Those days, where government did not do their job by building roads and schools and hospitals, and today we are building the roads they could have built but did not build. We are completing the roads and bridges they could have built and completed but they did not do.
“I want to thank you for your confidence in me by asking me to continue to consolidate the gains of peace, stability and development of this land.
In doing so, I want to use this opportunity to announce to you that I will be assisted and supported in that onerous exercise by a man that I have always called my dependable ally and partner in the restoration project. Accordingly therefore, I announce to you all that my running mate for this election will be Admiral John Gborigboria Jonah (retd.) We are running on a ticket of continuity, stability and consolidation. We are building institutions and stability in our state and that is why I have nominated him to run with me.”
IPAC, CNPP endorse Dickson for second term
Meanwhile, 13 political parties in the state, yesterday adopted Dickson as their sole governorship candidate for the poll.s
The political parties under the aegis of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) announced the adoption of Dickson at a press conference in Yenagoa.
Among the 13 political parties are ADC, KOWA, PPA, AA, Accord Party, UPN, APA, HDP, YDP, Independent Democrat, ACPN and NNPP.
Treasurer of IPAC and state chairman of New Nigerian Peoples Democratic Party (NNPP), Inko Namatebe, explained that the parties adopted Dickson because of his sterling leadership qualities, adding that with Dickson securing second tenure the state would remain in safe hands.
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