The  Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson has accused leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of using the image of former President Goodluck Jonathan to legitimize the electoral fraud which the party allegedly perpetrated during the just-concluded governorship election in the state.

Dickson, who stated this during a press conference in Yenagoa, the state capital on Tuesday described the move as a strategy designed by the APC leaders to justify the irregularities and forceful takeover of Bayelsa.

Recall that some APC leaders including the governor-elect, David Lyon, Governor Abubakar Badaru Jigawa State, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and the Minister of State for Petroleum  Resources, Timipreye Sylva had visited Jonathan shortly after the APC won the Bayelsa governorship election. 

Dickson however noted that the APC leaders were aware that Jonathan did not contribute in any way to their manipulation of the electoral process to gain the upper hand against the PDP.

His words: “That’s why they had to be taking David Lyon to him (Jonathan). They had to be talking about him. They had to visit him and appear to be celebrating a victory never earned.

“Like Pontius Pilate, they are preparing the window by which they will wash their hands strategically and put it at his (Jonathan) doorstep that he endorsed, sanctioned and legitimized it. That’s the game they are playing.

Dickson said he had  confidence in the judiciary to deliver justice on the pre-election related cases filed before it, calling on the people to show restraint and not resort to violence.