By Bayo Davids
Leaders of the the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State have written to President Bola Tinubu and the National Chairman of the Party, Abdullahi Ganduje on the dangers of supporting the governorship candidate of the party in the November 11 election, Timipre Sylva and his running mate, Joshua Maciver.
The stakeholders hinged their warning on what they said was the conviction of Maciver for sea piracy and terrorism and was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison where he allegedly escaped in 2006.
The Coordinator of the Bayelsa APC Stakeholders’ Forum, Chief Tamuno Charles, said the opposition parties in the state would walk away with victory should the President and leadership of the APC associate themselves with a known criminal vying for elective office.
This is just as Chief Charles called on Ganduje and Sylva not to drag Tinubu into the imminent defeat staring the party in the face in November.
They also called on the APC to reject the N11.8 billion campaign budget submitted to them for the political campaign of Sylva, whom they noted had boasted in the past that he had sufficient funds to run his campaign on his own.
The group also cautioned the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to tread with caution over the rumoured clandestine meetings with Sylva and others over Bayelsa elections, saying “what is going on in Bayelsa state transcends any party politics, as the people of the state have unanimously rejected Timipre Sylva. Therefore, Sylva should not hoodwink or deceive the party and the APC national executives.
They explained that the decision to come public is the fact that Sylva had the opportunity to select a refined and well qualified running mate for the poll but instead “shunned all stakeholders and decided to bring in a man with a questionable escape from Kaduna prison.”
They further said, “This is the same Deputy Governorship candidate who went on a viral video confirming that he was never convicted of murder, but that he was convicted for sea piracy and terrorism. Therefore, he is not eligible.”
They also claimed that despite being declared wanted by the Ministry of Interior and the decision of the administration of Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to offer Presidential pardon to militants during the militancy days in the Niger Delta, Joshua Maciver was already convicted years earlier and sent to prison. Though the Late President’s Amnesty Proclamation was never to pardon already convicted felons, it was Amnesty against future prosecutions and not a pardon.
“Joshau Maciver himself refused to embrace the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) fearing that the Amnesty Programme was a clandestine ploy by the federal government to round him and others up since he had in a few years back escaped from prison.”
“Maciver has over the years publicly claimed to have accepted the Amnesty Programme. However, he never presented himself for proper documentation like the 30,000 Amnesty beneficiaries to the Presidential Amnesty team. Maciver was not alone in this reasoning as over 10,000 ex-agitators felt the same way.”
The APC faithful insisted that Sylva, did a great disservice to the party by presenting a Deputy Governorship candidate with shady history, and “by the provisions of section 31, 33 and 34 of the Electoral Act, the time for nomination of a new running mate has lapsed. It simply means that the candidature of Timipre Sylva cannot stand alone without having a qualified deputy.”