…He’s scared of my shadow – Governor

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, & Samuel Oyadongha

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and his predecessor, Mr. Timipre Sylva, were yesterday locked in a war of words over alleged attempt to blackmail President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari.

Bayelsa Intl. Airport ready for operations – Dickson

Sylva, who governed Bayelsa State between 2007 and 2012 fired the first salvo yesterday, when he accused Dickson of cooking up fake negative news reports to discredit Kyari and other officials of the presidency with the intent of linking him, Sylva, to the reports.

Dickson, however, dismissed Sylva as a troubled man, charging him to come clean if he had committed any particular sin against the Chief of Staff or anyone else.

Kyari could not be reached on the development, yesterday.

Dickson’s plot—Sylva

Giving notice of an impending attempt to blackmail him through publications against Kyari in mainstream and social media outlets, Sylva in a statement by his Media Adviser, Julius Bokoru, said: “Credible information available to us indicates that the incumbent governor, Dickson, is hatching plots to place Sylva on a collision course with key state actors at the national level.

“Sylva learned that Dickson’s precise method of doing this is to sponsor, with state resources, journalists in the mainstream media and content providers on the social media, to write damning stories against some key figures of the presidency.

“Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to the President, is named as a particular target in this fake news campaign. The mercenaries responsible for this structured campaign of fake news would then leave artificial traces linking the stories to Sylva.

“This is also to warn Dickson to steer clear of the path of propaganda, outright lies and blackmails against Sylva which, sadly, has become his obsession. If he had spent even a quarter of these energies on the task of governance before him, the state would have been a lot better for it.”

Sylva’s a troubled  man—Dickson

Responding yesterday, Dickson, through his Special Adviser, Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, said that Sylva cuts the gnawing image of a troubled man screaming and fleeing with no one in pursuit.

Soriwei said: “This type of report falls short of the standard of a story that should command a place in our respected media space.

“Somebody of the exalted status of a former governor is crying wolf, where there is none and hallucinating that a governor reputed to be his political nemesis is after him.

“The point to note is that Governor Dickson is too busy with the execution of the mandate given to him by Bayelsans in place of Sylva to be bothered by anticipated clashes between Sylva and the President’s Chief of Staff.

“This comic claim by Sylva and his minion is a classic example of the wicked on flight at the sight of nobody.

“The fact is that Sylva is so scared and intimidated by the shadow of Governor Dickson, that his nightmares about him occur in the day time.

“We hope Sylva is not having sleepless night over the possibility of yet another ‘leaked audio’ in this era of double speak.

“While Dickson had worked hard to put his name on all the life-changing, big ticket development projects in Bayelsa, Sylva would be remembered for the descent to lawlessness and slaughter of the innocent.

“Sylva’s regime is one bitter story of the locust, pain, misery, waste and misrule in Bayelsa. His rejection by the Bayelsa people only showed the decision of the people to reject stagnation and sterility in governance.”