Sylva, who insists he was muscled out of the governorship race because Dickson had been anointed by the Presidency, has invested his hope in the judiciary to redress what he and his associates called political injustice meted out to him.
Just recently after he had filed a suit through his counsel, Chief Robert Clarke against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seeking to be declared the candidate of the PDP in the election, the Federal High Court dashed his hopes when it struck out the case stating that it is an abuse of judicial process.
According to the presiding Judge, Justice Lambo Akanbi, he noted that the persistent filing of motions before the lower Court when such has been ruled upon by the Justices of the Supreme Court amounted to judicial rascality.
“It is an abuse of the court process for the plaintiff (Sylva) to approach this court on a matter already decided by the Supreme Court. I shall not encourage any journey in futility, “ he added
Dickson who hailed the judgment had agreed with the Judge that the filing of the case was an abuse of judicial process and added that it was aimed at derailing the developmental efforts of his administration.
But while Sylva had taken the judgment in its strides as he has gone ahead to the Court of Appeal to challenge the Federal High Court ruling, his camp and that of Dickson have returned to the trenches, hurling tirades that continue to heat up the Bayelsa polity.
During his monthly transparency briefing, Dickson had disclosed that his administration would set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to probe the administration of N4 billion pension funds during Sylva’s tenure.
Dickson who stated that the owing of pension by the Sylva administration was not acceptable said: “Pension thieves in the state built hotels and bought exotic cars”.
But the Sylva camp in its reaction came out smoking and asked Dickson to resign as governor noting: “We are sick and tired of Dickson’s governance style of always blaming Chief Timipre Sylva for his incompetence and failure.”
In a statement by his media aide, Doifie Ola, Sylva said: “Dickson’s claim about non-payment of pensioners from May 2007 – January 2012 is scandalous, petty and irresponsible.”
The statement which claimed that during the Sylva administration, “the state government paid an average of N216 million monthly and about N2.6 billion per annum on pensions, stressed that, “If nobody protested over non-payment of pension for five years, it means pensioners as well as labour in Bayelsa were satisfied with the Sylva administration”.
Ola who questioned the setting up of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry stated that since Dickson said it had come to his knowledge that the pension thieves in Bayelsa State used the stolen funds to build hotels and buy exotic cars, it therefore meant he already knew who the criminals are.
According to him, the decision to set up this Judicial Commission of Inquiry is to indict Sylva since previous attempts by Mr Ndutimi Alaibe and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to ruin Sylva’s political career has failed.
In reply to the salvo fired by the Sylva camp, the Chief Press Secretary to Dickson, Mr Daniel Iworiso- Markson while shedding light on the proposed judicial commission of inquiry, pointed out that Sylva is a drowning man.
According to him: “The decision of the state government to set up a judicial panel of enquiry to probe the backlog of unpaid pensions and gratuities is premised on the need to address the deep seated rot and systemic failure perpetrated by some disgruntled civil servants with the active collaboration of some political leaders”.
Iworiso- Markson who explained that the Dickson administration has been working hard to clear the backlog lamented that the same syndicate responsible for stealing pension funds “instead of hiding their faces in shame, have chosen to embark on a campaign of calumny and propaganda against the government by inciting some of the pensioners to embark on street protest”.
He explained that the probe was limited to the last five years because Civil servants have never had it so bad and assured Nigerians and Bayelsans, “that the commission is not on a witch haunting mission but on a fact finding one”.
Few days after the statement, the Dickson government disclosed that it has uncovered plans “by some persons with the active support and collaboration of some desperate politicians and their collaborators from neighbouring states who do not mean well for our state, to embark on a sponsored mass street protest as part of their campaign of calumny and propaganda against the state government”.
The government said a security report had indicated that some unemployed youths and pensioners that protested recently were part of a grand plot to destabilize the state with plans advanced to incite unsuspecting youths to take to the streets to protest against the state government.
Iworiso- Markson who warned that government will not hesitate to bring down the full weight of the law on anybody that breaches the existing peace added: “We have it on good authority that this disgruntled politicians are going round doling out cash to recruit youths in the state to join in the dastardly act as well as to re-open militant camps in the creeks and procure arms as part of their agenda to make the state ungovernable”.
For political pundits, the rivalry between the two camps runs deep and their recent public spat is a signpost that the two camps are not ready to sheathe the sword in their continued battle for the soul of Bayelsa State.
Even though Sylva and his political associates insist they remain in the PDP, their continued stay in the party remains largely unwelcomed by the Dickson camp as the belief is that they are working hard to destabilize the government.
Culled from The Sun newspaper
No comments:
Post a Comment