Ahead of Bayelsa State governorship election slated for November 11, 2023, there is a seeming crisis in the camp of the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate Chief Timipre Sylva as some of his supporters have suddenly dumped him for the incumbent, governor, Senator Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).
Already, the support base of the former Minister of State for Petroleum is being depleted daily with supporters ditching him for the camp of the incumbent, Senator Douye Diri.
The scenario has also been compounded by the reluctance of the national leadership of the party to support his campaign financially.
Only recently, one of his loyalists, and political ally Hon. Israel Sunny Goli, dumped him for the PDP on the grounds that, Sylva has no structure to defeat Governor Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Sunny-Goli, the immediate past member representing Nembe-Brass Federal Constituency, said at a news conference in Yenagoa that Sylva, his principal of over 20 years has no structure and capacity to win elections.
Also, few days ago, the platform of former legislators from 1999 till date declared their support for Governor Diri with the motion of vote of confidence on Diri moved by a former Sylva’s ally, Hon. Robert Enogha, and seconded by Rt Hon Werinipre Seibarugu, former Acting Governor and also a deputy governor to Sylva.
The development is becoming a source of worry to his supporters and party leaders in the state.
A close associate of Sylva, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said with the political climate in the state ahead of the election, Sylva and his supporters may be plunged into political oblivion and ultimately be retired from the Bayelsa political space.
“If care is not taken, the way Sylva is going about it, Sylva and his supporters may be plunged into political oblivion and ultimately be retired from the Bayelsa political space, because the events of the past are hunting him and his followers.”
The source recalled how Sylva led a team of his supporters to meet the National Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, to raise N11 billion to support his campaign.
“The team met a brick wall as the Chairman was not enthusiastic about the idea. Rather than buying into the idea as the usual practice during a serious election season like the governorship election, he mockingly threw the task back to Sylva by giving him the task to first list the number of persons he had empowered in his state. Sylva and his team were given one hour to do that, while Ganduje waited to no avail and they left the national chairman’s residence with forlorn faces and utter disappointment.”
Another source further expressed disappointment that APC supporters back in Bayelsa State are frightened by daily depletion of supporters, defecting in droves to the ruling PDP with confidence in the Diri administration soaring higher.
The indicators, according to the sources, are gloomy for the APC, so long as free and fair election is conducted in the state.
They also claimed that, he tried unsuccessfully to drag the Presidency into his campaign, adding his efforts to enlist the support of the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila was also futile.
Also, a prominent community leader from Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, bursted in anger while condemning his choice of a deputy from a local government that produced the first graduate in the person of late Chief N. A Frank Opigo.
“Southern Ijaw people are appalled at the APC’s choice of a deputy governorship candidate, whose credentials are well known. What an insult to our collective sensibilities”?
He recalled that a Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa has is currently hearing, the case filed by a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State, Isikima Johnson, who is challenging the eligibility of the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Joshua Maciver, for the November 11 polls.
Johnson is contending that Maciver was allegedly convicted of murder and terrorism by a court of competent jurisdiction in 2006, and as such he was not qualified to be the running mate to the APC governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva.
She is also arguing that Maciver allegedly lied on oath when he declared that he was not an ex-convict when he filled out his form by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The question on the lips of vast majority of Bayelsans is, is there any interest the former Minister of State for petroleum has other than coming to sell the state just as he was accused of revoking the state most priced asset, the Atala Oil Field OML 46 which is the common patrimony of the land of his birth, and was the marginal oil field allocated to Bayelsa State during the resource control agitations.
Rather than protect it for his state, Sylva allegedly revoked it and reallocated it to a company that was only incorporated in September 2019 with no single asset. These are some of the baggage the APC has to contend with in the days ahead of the election.
