The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has anointed former
\ngovernor, Timipre Sylca, as the party\u2019s consensus candidate for the
\nDecember 5 governorship election in the state, it was learnt last night.
\nThe decision was said to have been taken in Abuja after series of
\nmeetings with both Sylva and his closest rival, former NNDC boss, Timi
\nAlaibe.<\/p>\n
However, Alaibe was said to have bluntly rejected the decision, daring
\nthe leadership that the question of who emerges as the governorship
\ncandidate can only be settled through a transparent primary election.<\/p>\n
A source who was at the meetings but pleaded anonymity told our
\ncorrespondent last night that the decision to finally give Sylva the nod
\nwas arrived at to avoid a possible bitter outcome of going into primaries
\nwith potential of tearing the party apart ahead of the election.<\/p>\n
The source, who is an influential APC leader from Lagos State, also
\ninformed our correspondent that Sylva\u2019s endorsement was unanimous given
\nhis role as a leader of the party in Bayelsa State and as a way of
\ncompensating him for his commitment and loyalty to the party aside being
\na former governor who was seen to be more on the ground than Alaibe and
\nthe other aspirants.<\/p>\n
As a compromise, Alaibe was offered the ministerial slot for the state,
\nalready penciled down as minister for Niger Delta Affairs, the source
\ndisclosed.
\nBut the decision to anoint Sylva as a consensus has triggered discontent
\nas Alaibe and his supporters have kicked against the move seen as
\nundemocratic and injustice.<\/p>\n
Both our source at the meeting and a close political associate of Alaibe
\nconfirmed the development, noting that Alaibe was adamant to step down
\nfor Sylva except a free and fair primary was conducted to determine the
\nparty\u2019 candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is true former governor Timipre Sylva was unanimously adopted as our
\nconsensus candidate and the leaders present at the meeting gave reasons
\nfor their decision. You know we have about 9 aspirants in Bayelsa but
\nSylva and Alaibe are those with winning potentials. However, in the
\njudgement of our leaders, Sylva was adopted. As a compromise, they also
\nanointed Alaibe as minister but he bluntly rejected the offer. He said
\nthey should all go to primaries. That was all happened at the last meeting
\nin Abuja where the decision was taken\u201d, the source said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, it was gathered that Alaibe was already considering the next
\nmove which may lead to joining another party.
\nA source close to the politician confirmed last night that he may end up
\nrunning on the platform of the Labour Party if his request for a free and
\nfair primary was not acceded to by the APC leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout a free and fair primary, Alaibe will likely run on the ticket of
\nthe Labour Party. He cannot be made to step down at every election and I
\ncan assure you that he may eventually defect to Labour by mobilizing his
\nsupporters to realize his ambition\u201d, the source hinted<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has anointed former governor, Timipre Sylca, as the party\u2019s consensus candidate for the December 5 governorship election in the state, it was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n