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By Amos Okioma, Yenagoa
Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state, Agriculture has dismissed the Commission of Enquiry on 2019 election violence, set up by the Bayelsa State Government, as ploy to divert attention.
Lokpobiri described his invitation by the panel as a mere smokescreen to divert the attention of the people of the state from the real issue of the governor’s mal-administration in office in the past seven years.
The minister in a statement by his special adviser on media, Mr George Oji noted that the said panel was illegal as it is strange to the extant laws governing election, the Electoral Act and the constitution.
Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had distanced the party from the panel and urged its members not to appear before it.
APC spokesman Doifie Buokoribo had said that the PDP government in Bayelsa had no moral right to be a judge in an election it was party to, noting that it is contrary to natural justice to adjudicate in one’s case.
The panel led by Justice Iniekade Eradiri and inaugurated by Gov Seriake Dickson shortly after the Presidential and National Assembly Elections, had invited prominent APC leaders, including Lokpobiri, to appear before it in Yenagoa.
The minister stated that the concern of the impoverished people of Bayelsa is how to reconcile hug resources that accrued to the state under Dickson to the “prevalent poverty and underdevelopment of Bayelsa.”
Lokpobiri advised Dickson to account for his stewardship by explaining to Bayelsa people how he expended the huge financial accruals to the state, which stands at N1.4 trillion.
“As we speak, the money that has accrued to the state has increased to N1.4 trillion and there is nothing to show for it. Let Dickson give proper account of this. Let Dickson forget about the so-called commission of inquiry and give proper account of how this money has been spent.
“This is also a wake-up call people of Bayelsans that this is an attempt by Dickson to divert attention from the real issues of corruption and deliberate impoverishment of our people,” Lokpobiri stated.
According to Lokpobiri, “Bayelsa people should begin to interrogate Dickson concerning the volume of money that has come to the state, including the bailout funds, the loans, as well as the domestic and foreign loans.
“The people should try to match it with the projects and what is on the ground. That is what Bayelsans want to know,” he said.
The minister explained that governance was serious business beyond appearing before the press and talking about frivolous issues and making false claims that has little or nothing to do with accountable governance.
Lokpobiri challenged Dickson to a public debate to explain his stewardship in office.
The minister maintained that the panel is unnecessary, adding that there was no single political violence involving the APC in Bayelsa during the last elections in the state.
Lokpobiri condemned what he described as the incessant setting up of such commissions by Dickson, which is not in tandem with the letters and the spirit of the Nigerian Constitution.
The minister regretted that the Justice Eradiri Commission of Inquiry represents a familiar action by Dickson who always uses his position and powers to suppress and intimidate the opposition and satisfy his political ego.
Lokpobiri lampooned Dickson for always dragging his name in every negative issue that he (Dickson) “masterminds at will in the state.”
Dickson had on February 24 alleged that the APC, led by Ex-Gov Timipre Sylva and Lokpobiri, had colluded with the military to unleash violence and manipulated the polls and hence the justification for setting up the panel.
The spokesman of the 16 Brigade Major Jonah Danjuma promptly denied the allegations and said that on the contrary, its troops averted violence by arresting political thugs during the polls.
