The crisis of confidence bedeviling the Bayelsa State Chapter of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) deepened yesterday when the fuss over choice
of running mate to the governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, shifted to
his Abuja palatial home leading to hot exchanges. In the process, Sylva
was said to have got a hot slap on his cheeks for what said to be a result
of his “deception and betrayal”.
Both the state chairman of APC, Chief Tiwe Oruminigbe and an ex-militant
leader, General Africa, were involved in the fracas.
Since the APC primary where the former governor emerged as candidate,
there have been a relentless battle over who becomes his deputy as the
jostle for the slot kept shifting from one supposedly anointed person to
the other.
Sources privy to the development reliably told our reporter that Sylva had
all along promised no fewer than six persons who would be picked as his
running mate but none of them has so far been named.
APC state chairman, Tiwe Orumingbe, was one of those initially favoured as
Sylva was said to have repeatedly told him and members of his inner caucus
he will be his running mate.
The source, who craved anonymity, however, said Sylva only cajoled all
those he promised the deputy slot but never meant his words as he only
used the promises as bait to elicit their support to get the governorship
ticket at the primary election.
Oruminigbe as party chairman reportedly mobilized all delegates to vote
for Sylva at the primary which he won.
It was gathered that the Abuja clash was fallout of the struggle on the
part of Oruminigbe to challenge Sylva over his refusal to name him as
running mate in spite of his repeated promises and “unalloyed support” to
him at the governorship primary election.
To demonstrate his seriousness, Oruminigbe was said to have gone to
Sylva’s Abuja home yesterday with ex-militant leader, General Africa, to
confront Sylva on the issue but the open confrontation soon resulted into
heated argument and in the process, General Africa was said to have
slapped Sylva and a full blown fight erupted.
An eye witness account informed one of our reporters that the ensuing
fight caused destruction of some household items.
Following the attack yesterday, a reliable source has hinted that Sylva as
the leader of the APC in Bayelsa State was already plotting to remove Tiwe
Oruminigbe as state chairman.
To achieve this, it was gathered that at the instigation of Sylva, some
key members of the state executive were making moves to suspend him (Tiwe)
as chairman. The move was also said to be causing fresh ripples within
the exco as members were said to be divided on the implication ahead of a
crucial election in the state.
In a related development, following the fight in Abuja, party members and
recruited urchins loyal to Tiwe Oruminigbe have taken to the streets in
Yenagoa, the state capital, pulling down Sylva’s posters and billboards to
vent their anger and disappointment that the party chairman was not named
deputy as earlier promised.
Meantime, top sources in the party also informed our reporter that as a
clever way of pacifying the embittered individuals who were promised as
running mate but disappointed, Sylva has begun another round of promises
to the effect that they will be made minister and other federal
appointments.
“It’s all a huge joke. Sylva is deceiving them all over again and this is
unfortunate, His repeated empty promise is what is tearing the party apart
right now. Certainly things can’t be the same again in APC in Bayelsa
State”, the source said.
In its reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state,
condemned Sylva’s action, noting that ‘deceit, lies and subterfuge’ were
political tricks of the APC candidate over the years.
In a statement by the PDP state secretary, Keku Godspower, the party
accused Sylva to have deceived PDP members into joining APC with promises
of the governorship ticket and collected huge sums of money from them
without fulfilling his promise.
“It is an unfortunate situation indeed but we know Sylva to be such a
notorious liar. His politics revolves around lies, deceit and subterfuge
and he can never change. It’s that bad for APC in Bayelsa State. It is the
same way he deceived our members to join APC with promises to make them
governor by collecting so much money from them only to use their money to
finance his own ambition. That’s Sylva for you in his usual deception as
the latest deputy saga demonstrates”, Keku stated.
Keku has also called on PDP defectors to return to the party in the face
of current realities in the APC, assuring them that they will be welcomed
with open arms.
He stated: “We earnestly want our members who decamped to APC to return
without further delay because it is now too clear that they were misled.
The PDP umbrella is big enough to accommodate everybody. Now, if a man
like Sylva will be so cruel and deceptive to his fellow party men, what it
shows convincingly is that he cannot be trusted to be governor of the
state. He will run a government of deception as he did as governor for
five years in the past. That will be sad for our collective future”.