Governor Henry Seriake Dick­son of Bayelsa State has de­fended the approval of President Goodluck Jon­athan as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the Gov­ernors, Board of Trustees and the National Execu­tive Council of the party for the 2015 Presidential election.

Speaking for the first time since the approval of the president, during an interac­tive session with journalists in Yenagoa, the governor said the decision of the party leadership was hinged on the need to institutionalize the option of first refusal for an incumbent president as prac­tised in advanced democra­cies.

According to him, the move would enable the party to reduce the huge cost asso­ciated with politics of second term and the in-fighting it breeds.

Dickson explained that the decision would also pro­mote stability in the party and allow the incumbent to concentrate on the party programmes for the elector­ate without the distractions associated with securing a second term ticket.

While dismissing criti­cisms that the decision was undemocratic, the gover­nor said the adoption of Jonathan would not stop the national convention of the party from holding to enable party members vote a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Dickson reasoned that if the option of first refusal had been instituted in the party from inception, the political intrigues that surrounded the re-election of former Presi­dent Olusegun Obasanjo would have been avoided.

His words: “It is not a dec­laration of sole candidacy. The term sole candidacy connotes a far cry from what we have done. What we have done, is to stabilize the po­litical system. What we have done as the dominant party in the country, is to say that we don’t want to subject our members to the costly and stressful experiences. What we have said is that once you are a president from a politi­cal party, you have a right of first refusal. It will reduce in-fighting and cost of lobbying and campaigns.

“What we have said is that if the head (President) have failed, the party pays for it and loses elections. Who­ever comes after Jonathan, will no longer have issues of intra-party conflicts. But he will have right to first re­fusal. Four years is too short to achieve much. In the first term of an administration, there is much in-fighting. If there was right of first re­fusal, the incumbent would know and would be focused to perform.”