BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate for the February 11, election in Bayelsa State, Mr Henry Dickson, has invited all those who contested with him in the party primaries to join hands with him to restore what he said was the lost glory of the state.

Speaking on the launch of his gubernatorial campaign, which had been canceled because of weekend’s bomb attacks in the state capital and Kano State, Dickson said the bomb blast in Yenogoa was  targeted at derailing his campaign. He said he was optimistic that rather than subdue his supporters, that the bomb blast may have on the contrary, emboldened them to enthrone a new leadership in the state.

“I am a man of ideas but I don’t claim to know every thing. I will assemble a time-tested team of men and women, who will help implement our lofty agenda for the people of our state,” he said, as he invited all those, who contested the fractious PDP gubernatorial primaries with him to come on aboard his campaign train.

His invitation was, however, short of any direct mention of the help of the incumbent Governor, Chief Timipire Sylva, who was disallowed from contesting the primaries.

Affirming his commitment to enthrone a culture of probity in the management of the state’s finances, he said, “All incomes and expenditure of government shall be published regularly to keep the public abreast of government activities. I will not steal public funds and I don’t expect government functionaries to embezzle either. If you steal, you will pay for it.

We shall put in place in-built mechanism aimed at instituting transparency and accountability in the day-to-day administration of the state. People will be happy under our government because people will work for they money they get.

“There will be no free money to share. We shall fight corruption with vigour and stop wastage in government. We shall run a simple government; cut the cost of governance in such a way that capital projects will be given a pride of place. We shall shore up the Internally Generated Revenue of the state through aggressive revenue though with human face,” he added.