I Took the Supreme Court Judgement as God’s Way of Vindicating Me, the Position we took as a Party
Immediate past Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson shared his some of his experiences before, during and after the last governorship election in the state. He spoke to Stanley Nkwazema. Excerpts:
How did you react, when you heard the news that the Supreme Court had delivered judgement in favour of PDP?
For me, I took it as God’s way of vindicating me as a person, vindicating the position we took as a party and God’s way of preventing a major disaster that was waiting to happen in Bayelsa, because of the inadequacies of the APC candidates that were being foisted on the state and the contradictions within the APC system. The state leader of the party had his own agenda for bringing up that contraption. It was not for the interest of Bayelsa as claimed. It was purely for his political comfort, advancement and to satisfy vested interests. Our reaction was to spontaneously give credit and glory to God. We all erupted into our usual way of praising God with songs and dances.
Everyone came crying and prostrating on the floor to God. It was spontaneous jubilation across the state, the whole country and beyond. At this point, I want to once again appreciate the Justices of the Supreme Court and generally the Nigerian Judiciary for the boldness and courage in spite of all the harassment and intimidation, subtle and open to undermine completely the wishes of the Bayelsa people.
Do not forget that this was a process started from the Federal High Court, where the trial Judge after listening to all arguments came to this same conclusion; that the APC candidate was not truthful about his records and his past. That he concealed very pertinent facts and issues about his past. This case wasn’t really a case of forgery, which most people wrongly claim it was. It was a case of an aspirant not telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
That is what the Electoral Act requires now; that any candidate filing for any elective post must not just speak the truth but the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If you change your names, there is a column there: have you changed your name in the past? What did you fill there? That means the whole truth was not said or told? It wasn’t a case of a criminal trial or forgery.
It went up to the Court of Appeal, their Lordships at the Court of Appeal decided otherwise, and the party and our candidate went to the Supreme Court as required by the constitution of our country and the Supreme Court gave their final judgement. I commend the Judiciary for their courage and for standing up to play their constitutionally assigned roles for which they were attacked.
Some of their homes like Justice Mary Odili’s home, both in Port Harcourt and Abuja were attacked by the APC elements, instigated by their leadership. My own home and the home of Senator Diri, the new governor, the High Court, a private Library and so many homes were also attacked in Yenagoa. That has been the brand of the APC. Don’t forget that in all of this, people must not lose sight of the fact that there was never an election, where the people of Bayelsa voted for the APC.
It is a lie that has been constantly told since November 16, 2019. They don’t address that fact. They are talking about three hundred and something thousand votes allocated by INEC working in conjunction with the Nigerian Army and the Police that shut down the state and came with pre-written figures to announce as results. That was what happened. There was never an election that APC won.
There is no issue in the first place of the court judgement repudiating the wishes of the people. To the contrary the position of the Supreme Court validates the real thinking and the mandate of the people of Bayelsa, who were for the PDP and our candidate, but whose votes and voices were shut down by the APC and the entire federal set up working as a team to destroy our democracy.
It is a welcome development and we thank God Almighty, the candidate himself and all of us in Bayelsa. Everyone who believes in God knows that this was a victory that God gave to us.
Many believed that your political career would have gone into oblivion if David Lyon had remained governor, following your activities in AD, Ijaw National Congress, IYC, Attorney General of the State, a two-term member of the House of Representatives, and two-term Governor of Bayelsa State, which nobody in the state has ever done before. How do you feel about that?
Well, everyone’s life and destiny are in the hands of God. If there is one thing that this Supreme Court judgement on Bayelsa should teach everyone including myself is that God is in control of the affairs of men and He is the one who gives power to whom and at what time and how. As a man of faith, I never lost