NEDU MARK, Yenagoa
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Rivers State Chapter, weekend, endorsed the incumbent Governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson for a second term in office as the state gears up for the December 5 governorship election.
The group said Governor Dickson ‘over the years has performed creditably in office as he has driven development to the hinterlands.’
The group came up with the decision shortly after a crucial meeting in Ekeremor command in Bayelsa state, canvassing ‘total support for the governor.’
MEND in a statement by its Acting Chairman, Rivers State, Hon Prince Amaibi Hornby, (Aka Gen. Busta Rhymes) and 16 other leaders of the group described Dickson as ‘a product of the Ijaw Struggle for Resource Control and Self-Determination in the Niger Delta, before he ventured into politics.’
The group further said Dickson has contributed immensely to the vast socio-political and economic development of the Ijaw Nation.
The Acting Chairman said ‘MEND is solidly behind him in this forthcoming governorship election,’ noting that its members would monitor the elections in the state, especially in the vast creeks of Bayelsa where the group is deep-rooted to avoid intimidation and ‘possible rigging by the enemies of Ijaw-land and their Abuja collaborators.’
“We also admonish President Mohammadu Buhari not to engage election riggers in the governorship elections as such vicious and surreptitious antics shall not only be vehemently resisted but may also lead to waking the sleeping dog from its rest.
“We also call upon the United Nations and indeed the International Community to bear us witness as we are not unaware of the planned use of ‘federal might’ to intimidate the people of Bayelsa State in favour of their Chosen candidate,” the group said.
MEND also directed its members across the landscape of the region to ‘drive their vehicles and paddle their canoes behind the umbrella of PDP and vote en-masse for Governor Dickson in the December 5, 2015 elections to protect the sanctity of our collective struggle, which Governor Dickson pro-actively represents.’
The statement further enjoined and commended actors in the struggle platform for showing their unalloyed support for Dickson, who ‘has been an Icon of the struggle.’
