Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson on Thursday intimated President Muhammadu Buhari with the security challenges in his state and the Niger Delta region.
Addressing State House reporters after meeting with the president, the governor said security matters are beyond partisan politics.
Dickson said he was at the Presidential Villa in Abuja to confer with him on critical national issues pertinent to the
stability, security and development of Bayelsa and Niger Delta.
He said he had a very fruitful discussion with Buhari, thanking him for giving him the opportunity to share perspectives on the issues.
Dickson, who stated that security matters are beyond partisan politics, said he discussed with Buhari, the need to change the approach to the security management in Niger Delta as well as the need to revisit the Brass Energy.
“We talked about the challenges of stabilizing the Niger Delta and the need for federal support,” the governor said.
“I had a discussion with the president, he’s the President and Commander-in-Chief, he’s the leader of the country and these issues are beyond partisan politics and we had a frank discussion. He understands the issues because he served in that region during the war when he was a younger officer, he’s familiar with the challenges that I’ve come to discuss with him and I look forward to collaborating and working with the president and the security officials to advance security in the region.
“Governors of the Niger Delta region are doing a lot and will continue to do our best. Working with the security agencies, we should be apolitical in supporting constituted authorities in the states. We expect that this interaction will yield positive results,” the governor said.
He said he and the president also discussed “what we think should be the final response to the ongoing debate about power devolution.”
Dickson, who said Nigeria was in dire need of power devolution, affirmed that All Progressives Congress committee on restructuring did a good job.
He said “My view is that all parts of Nigeria need to be carried along and especially the leadership of Northern Nigeria, it
needs to be engaged and contacted and then buy in and support. It’s not only essential, it’s indispensable to the success of the new Nigeria we’re trying to carve.
“We’re talking about our country and every part of the country has to be carried along. We need to interact and know what their fears, concerns and perspectives are so that we can, in the end, craft a position that’ll represent the collective aspirations of all parts of our country because this country is in dire need of devolution, this country is in dire need of a return to the essential founding fathers principles of our nation. That’s when you can have stability in the states, that’s when we’d have unleashed the huge potentials that exist in every part of the country.”
