Former President Goodluck Jonathan has opened up on how he practically galvanized the political career of Governor Seriake Dickson and enabled it to flourish over the years.

Jonathan gave the insight on Wednesday when he received Dickson, who led a delegation of the Bayelsa State government to pay him a condolence visit at his Otuoke country home to commiserate with him on the death of King Lot Justin Ogiasa, the traditional ruler of Otuoke community in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.

He spoke of how he brought a reluctant Dickson from the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the platform from which the governor started occupying public offices.

Jonathan, who spoke against the backdrop of speculated political rift between him and Dickson, said he personally ‘forced’ the governor to join the PDP, according to a press statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Francis Agbo.

Jonathan disassociated himself from the insinuations in the media that he was too close to the governor to orchestrate political differences against him, stressing that they had come a long way.

He said he was not in competition with Dickson, adding that having held the positions of deputy governor, governor, vice president and president, he had no reason to antagonize his governor.

Jonathan said, “When I was dreaming of becoming governor, Dickson was among the few in the meetings we were holding. He was not in the Peoples Democratic Party, but he agreed to help it. He didn’t want to join the PDP, but I virtually forced him.

“When I became governor, I appointed Dickson Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and that was how he became a PDP member and later became a member of the House of Representatives and so on…There is no way I will break my relationship with the governor.

“For me, politics is a very useless business; when I see the kinds of things people write about me on the social media, I just laugh. For Bayelsa State, I feel sad because we are not many and we are not heterogeneous. It is a state that we also know ourselves.

“I have no reason to say that I am competing with the governor; by the grace of God, I became deputy governor, governor and president. There is no way I can sit anywhere and plan anything against Bayelsa state or the governor.”

The former president thanked Dickson for the visit, noting that the governor had wanted to pay him a condolence visit shortly after the Otuoke monarch passed on but it was mutually agreed that the visit be shifted to when the burial date would have been announced.

In his remarks, Dickson said he was part of the Ogiasa family and by extension, the Otuoke community.

Dickson also dispelled rumour of any serious political disagreement with the former president, saying that Jonathan, whether in office or out of office would continue to remain his leader, having come a long way with him.

He also said that both he and Jonathan were not running for any office and wondered why “political jobbers” were bent on destroying their good relationship.

The governor, therefore, called on those who want to cause imaginary differences between him and Jonathan to perish their plans.

“We are here in full force as we have always done to commiserate with you, my elder brother, leader and the Ogiasa family in this hour of bereavement. We pray God to grant the Ogiasa eternal repose.

“Both of us have come a long way. My personal political story cannot be complete without talking about my elder brother, Jonathan. He also knows that I made little contribution that is recorded in the political chapter of his life,” Dickson stated.