Former Bayelsa State governor and Senator representing Bayelsa West, Henry Seriake Dickson, has said that there was no political crisis in the state following the death of Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewrudjakpo, dismissing claims that the late deputy governor had become a rallying point for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He stated this on Tuesday during a live press conference at his residence in Toru-Orua, Sagbama local government area of the State.
Dickson addressed concerns about the future of the PDP in Bayelsa State, especially claims that the late Ewrudjakpo had become a rallying point for party members after refusing to defect alongside with Governor Douye Diri to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He dismissed the idea and said steps were being taken to avoid political conflict inside the Government House.
He said he warned against turning Government House into a party meeting ground and stressed that the late deputy governor respected that understanding.
He said. “What I told ‘Lawrency’ when he took that decision not to go with his boss, I told him not to play any active or do PDP activities in Government House and so on. I said ‘don’t do that. I have told you to go with them, you said you don’t want to because of your principle and conscience.’
“I respect that but don’t, in that office that I built and you supervised; where the governor is in one wing, you the deputy governor in one wing. I don’t want a situation where you are calling party meetings, I said don’t do that and he agreed with me.”
The former governor described himself as a stabilising force who has chosen to stay calm and quiet in order to protect the state from crisis, even when provoked by political actors.
“I am the father of the government… people expected this place will boil but I’m stomaching a lot, tolerating and managing a lot. Keeping quiet, keeping far for a reason and we are making progress,” he added.
He also defended Governor Diri for stopping comments that could have created division over political differences between top government officials.
Dickson rejected claims that Ewrudjakpo was secretly mobilising PDP supporters, blaming such narratives on rumours and propaganda common in the state’s political environment.
“So Lawrency was not galvanizing people, no. People may have given that colouration and you know Bayelsa, our people like rumour, propaganda, blackmail.
“I knew them, that was why I never allowed, I never listened to any propaganda. I never allowed him to play that rallying point, no. He wasn’t any rallying point,” he said.
Dickson, however, stressed that the main reason for meeting the press was not politics but to honour the life and service of the late deputy governor, whom he described as humble and loyal.
He said he had avoided speaking to the media since leaving office in 2020 but felt it was important to speak now, even as the state continued to mourn.
The former governor also expressed deep personal grief and thanked Nigerians from all walks of life who attended the burial or sent condolences, saying the turnout showed how widely respected Ewrudjakpo was.
