Governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa
State started on a stormy note this morning with protest by supporters of
governorship aspirant, Ndutimi Alaibe, who were denied access to the venue
of the event.
Alaibe was also not allowed to enter the venue. He was seen at the gate
with his supporters, creating a riotous scene.
It was a busy day for security personnel at the venue of the primary
exercise as Alaibe’s supporters were seen engaging security men in
arguments over the propriety of their action. Many of the supporters were
milling outside the gate shouting and making attempts to force their way
into the venue but were disallowed.
Investigation revealed that Alaibe and his supporters were denied access
because of the stunning allegation that they were not accredited
delegates, a situation which led to hot exchanges and insinuations that
the Timipre Sylva’ camp was behind their travails in a bid to manipulate
the election.
With this development, there were indications that today’s primary will
likely to be marred by crisis as the outcome will be dented by complaints
of bias and thus those affected particularly the Alaibe group may reject
the result.
“We will certainly reject the outcome of the primary if the situation
does not change here today because this arrangement is skewed in favour
of a particular aspirant”, one of the supporters stated.
As at the time of filing this report, the growing protest had become a
source of worry to the Adams Oshiomhole-led panel charged with the
responsibility of conducting the primary as frantic efforts were being
made to get the aspirants and disgruntled delegates to calm down.
It was also observed that more security men were being deployed to the
venue to forestall any possible breakdown of law and order as party thugs
were said to have invaded the venue.