By Simon Utebor, Yenagoa
Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Seriake Dickson, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to caution his Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, against denigrating critical institutions of the Nigerian state including the Judiciary.
Dickson condemned in strong terms, the scathing attacks on the judiciary by Sylva who alleged that the All Progressives Congress was not in a contest with the People’s Democratic Party but with the Judiciary.
Sylva had alleged during a rally of the APC that the judiciary was targeting the APC and was churning out procured judgments against the party.
Dickson described the Sylva’s outburst as condemnable, rude, reprehensible and shocking in a statement on Tuesday.
The former Governor recalled that the same minister had earlier said demeaning and unprintable things about the judiciary and judicial officials for doing their jobs in adherence to the sacred ethos of fairness and justice.
Dickson condemned the penchant of the minister to throw invectives at the judiciary with the intent to intimidate, harass and blackmail judges.
He said that it was a fact that Sylva who, according to him, is reputed for presenting unelectable and unqualified candidates for elections in Bayelsa does not defend his bad cases in court.
Dickson said that even the two candidates of the APC for the December 5 rescheduled senatorial by-elections in Bayelsa West and Bayelsa Central which are products of Sylva’s leadership, are without the requisite qualification and therefore unelectable.
He said: “I hereby call on the President to stop Sylva from masterminding violence, subverting the electoral process, insulting judicial officers.
“Sylva does not put his party together to win election. He insults judges and throws invectives at the judiciary with the intent to harass and intimidate judges from doing their jobs.
“Sylva is known to present unqualified candidates only to insult the judiciary when his edifice of fraud is dismantled by the courts.
“The fact is that Sylva is too small to denigrate the judiciary and other critical institutions of state. If the laws of this country were working, Sylva would not have been where he is to hurl insult at the courts.
“While we are not against the decision of the President to rehabilitate Sylva with his appointment, Sylva should be prevented from desecrating the electoral system, insulting the judiciary and critical institutions of state.”
