The crisis of confidence bedeviling the Bayelsa State Chapter of the All
\nProgressives Congress (APC) deepened yesterday when the fuss over choice
\nof running mate to the governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, shifted to
\nhis Abuja palatial home leading to hot exchanges. In the process, Sylva
\nwas said to have got a hot slap on his cheeks for what said to be a result
\nof his \u201cdeception and betrayal\u201d.<\/p>\n
Both the state chairman of APC, Chief Tiwe Oruminigbe and an ex-militant
\nleader, General Africa, were involved in the fracas.<\/p>\n
Since the APC primary where the former governor emerged as candidate,
\nthere have been a relentless battle over who becomes his deputy as the
\njostle for the slot kept shifting from one supposedly anointed person to
\nthe other.<\/p>\n
Sources privy to the development reliably told our reporter that Sylva had
\nall along promised no fewer than six persons who would be picked as his
\nrunning mate but none of them has so far been named.<\/p>\n
APC state chairman, Tiwe Orumingbe, was one of those initially favoured as
\nSylva was said to have repeatedly told him and members of his inner caucus
\nhe will be his running mate.<\/p>\n
The source, who craved anonymity, however, said Sylva only cajoled all
\nthose he promised the deputy slot but never meant his words as he only
\nused the promises as bait to elicit their support to get the governorship
\nticket at the primary election.<\/p>\n
Oruminigbe as party chairman reportedly mobilized all delegates to vote
\nfor Sylva at the primary which he won.<\/p>\n
It was gathered that the Abuja clash was fallout of the struggle on the
\npart of Oruminigbe to challenge Sylva over his refusal to name him as
\nrunning mate in spite of his repeated promises and \u201cunalloyed support\u201d to
\nhim at the governorship primary election.<\/p>\n
To demonstrate his seriousness, Oruminigbe was said to have gone to
\nSylva\u2019s Abuja home yesterday with ex-militant leader, General Africa, to
\nconfront Sylva on the issue but the open confrontation soon resulted into
\nheated argument and in the process, General Africa was said to have
\nslapped Sylva and a full blown fight erupted.<\/p>\n
An eye witness account informed one of our reporters that the ensuing
\nfight caused destruction of some household items.<\/p>\n
Following the attack yesterday, a reliable source has hinted that Sylva as
\nthe leader of the APC in Bayelsa State was already plotting to remove Tiwe
\nOruminigbe as state chairman.<\/p>\n
To achieve this, it was gathered that at the instigation of Sylva, some
\nkey members of the state executive were making moves to suspend him (Tiwe)
\nas chairman. The move was also said to be causing fresh ripples within
\nthe exco as members were said to be divided on the implication ahead of a
\ncrucial election in the state.<\/p>\n
In a related development, following the fight in Abuja, party members and
\nrecruited urchins loyal to Tiwe Oruminigbe have taken to the streets in
\nYenagoa, the state capital, pulling down Sylva\u2019s posters and billboards to
\nvent their anger and disappointment that the party chairman was not named
\ndeputy as earlier promised.<\/p>\n
Meantime, top sources in the party also informed our reporter that as a
\nclever way of pacifying the embittered individuals who were promised as
\nrunning mate but disappointed, Sylva has begun another round of promises
\nto the effect that they will be made minister and other federal
\nappointments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all a huge joke. Sylva is deceiving them all over again and this is
\nunfortunate, His repeated empty promise is what is tearing the party apart
\nright now. Certainly things can\u2019t be the same again in APC in Bayelsa
\nState\u201d, the source said.<\/p>\n
In its reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state,
\ncondemned Sylva\u2019s action, noting that\u00a0 \u2018deceit, lies and subterfuge\u2019 were
\npolitical tricks of the APC candidate over the years.<\/p>\n
In a statement by the PDP state secretary, Keku Godspower, the party
\naccused Sylva to have deceived PDP members into joining APC with promises
\nof the governorship ticket and collected huge sums of money from them
\nwithout fulfilling his promise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an unfortunate situation indeed but we know Sylva to be such a
\nnotorious liar. His politics revolves around lies, deceit and subterfuge
\nand he can never change. It\u2019s that bad for APC in Bayelsa State. It is the
\nsame way he deceived our members to join APC with promises to make them
\ngovernor by collecting so much money from them only to use their money to
\nfinance his own ambition. That\u2019s Sylva for you in his usual deception as
\nthe latest deputy saga demonstrates\u201d, Keku stated.<\/p>\n
Keku has also called on PDP defectors to return to the party in the face
\nof current realities in the APC, assuring them that they will be welcomed
\nwith open arms.<\/p>\n
He stated: \u201cWe earnestly want our members who decamped to APC to return
\nwithout further delay because it is now too clear that they were misled.
\nThe PDP umbrella is big enough to accommodate everybody. Now, if a man
\nlike Sylva will be so cruel and deceptive to his fellow party men, what it
\nshows convincingly is that he cannot be trusted to be governor of the
\nstate. He will run a government of deception as he did as governor for
\nfive years in the past. That will be sad for our collective future\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n