Former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva yesterday told the incumbent, Seriake Dickson, to resign over what he described as severe governance deficit. Sylva, who spoke through his Media Adviser, Doifie Ola, in a statement made available to National Mirror in Yenagoa, was reacting to a report credited to Dickson for seeking probe of Sylva's administration for alleged failure to pay N4 billon gratuities of retirees in the state civil service from 2007 to 2012.
Sylva described Dickson's claim for not paying pensions and gratuities of pensioners for five years as petty, irresponsible and scandalous, adding that the governor was always blaming him for his alleged incompetence and failure. Part of the statement read: "We are sick and tired of Dickson's governance style of always blaming Chief Timipre Sylva for his incompetence and failure.
"We call upon Dickson to resign now since he has shown that the job for which he was imposed on the people of Bayelsa State is bigger than him. Failing which the people of Bayelsa State should exercise their civic duty to remove him from office using all available constitutional options."
The former governor recalled that his administration inherited outstanding pension and gratuity arrears from his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, stressing that and no noise was made about it. He claimed that his administration paid an average of N216 million of pensions monthly and about N2.6 billion per annum to retirees.
The statement added: "When Sylva took over as governor of Bayelsa State from Dr Goodluck Jonathan, there were outstanding pension and gratuity arrears and no noise was made about it. "As a leader, Sylva took responsibility on the conviction that government is a continuum. Pensioners were paid with people still in service, promptly and monthly.
"Those who retired from service at the time also received their gratuity once the appropriate documentations were done. Not even Sylva's opponents could accuse him of non-payment of salaries and pensions. By our records, the state government paid an average of N216 million monthly and about N2.6 billion per annum on pensions.
"If nobody protested over non-payment of pension for five years, it means pensioners as well as labour in Bayelsa were satisfied with the Sylva administration. "Why is Dickson restricting his pension probe to the period from 2007 to 2012? Why not commence from the beginning of civilian rule in the state in 1999?
Why the obsession with Sylva? Dickson has been in office since February 2012. In April 2012, he set up a kangaroo 11-man Financial Management Review Committee headed by Mr. Ndutimi Alaibe to probe Sylva. Yet, Dickson is only just realising – in July 2013 – that pension funds were mismanaged from 2007 to 2012."
National Mirror
Incompetence is not something any leader should be associated with. It absolutely makes no sense. That has to change.