Bayelsa poll: traditional ruler, chiefs back Diri

The Traditional Ruler of Epie Kingdom, King Malla Sasime and his Council of Chiefs at the weekend backed the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Douye Diri and his running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewhrujakpo ahead of the November 16 election.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Mr, Fidelis Soriwei, said the king and his Chiefs took the decision when Governor Seriake Dickson presented Diri and Ewhrujakpor to them at their palace in Igbogene, Yenagoa.

The king commended Dickson for his administration’s achievements in the state and assured the PDP Flagbearer of the Epie Kingdom’s support at the poll.

He was quoted as saying: “You have come to ask for my blessings; the blessings of the Epie Kingdom and that I will willingly give to you. And I will not give it to you for the fun of it.

“I will give it to you with all seriousness hoping that, you receiving the blessings will know the seriousness with which you are receiving it and the seriousness with which you are supposed to execute the purpose of the blessings.

“It is our prayer and hope that his successor will do better than him so today we will give you our blessings hoping that you will do better. You will give us more hope and progress and at the end of the day, not only Bayelsa but the entire Ijaw nation will be proud of you.”

In his remarks, Dickson said that Diri and Ewhrudjakpor’s ticket remained the only one with the capacity to guarantee continuity of his developmental agenda in the state.

He expressed the confidence that the ticket would ensure completion of the critical projects, which were stalled following economic recession that hit the country.

Dickson said the PDP candidate and his running mate represented competence, capacity, experience, stability, consolidation and security.

He said: “The PDP is the only party that has engendered the level of development being witnessed in Bayelsa since 1999 till date, unlike the opposition party that is coming to experiment in governance of the state.

“Let me say that this ticket is the ticket that will complete the several things that we were doing which were slowed down because of the economic recession.

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“This is the ticket that I can trust to complete the Igbogene by-pass road because we have already finished the portion of the AIT road. The contractors will be re-mobilized to site before I hand over.

“Every other demand or request that this clan has, this is the ticket that i believe and trust that will perform and even do more.”

Also speaking, Diri expressed the commitment that if elected, the government would take over all the projects to ensure their completion.

He noted that having been part of the Restoration Government, he and his running mate would also ensure the execution of the second fly over at Tombia-Etegwe roundabout.