Indications emerged on Saturday that the Bayelsa State governorship
\ncandidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, is broke
\nand may have resorted to selling his properties to raise funds ahead of
\nthe December 5 election.<\/p>\n
A source privy to the development who played a major role during the last
\ngovernorship primary where Sylva emerged candidate confirmed that it was a
\ndesperate move to keep his campaign going and probably make some
\nimpressions during the race.<\/p>\n
According to him, since then, most of the funding of the campaign had been
\nundertaken by Sylva as other key players who could have assisted were said
\nto have distanced themselves from him because of alleged betrayal.<\/p>\n
\u201cTimipre Sylva is broke, now flat, but there is hope very soon\u201d, the
\nsource who craved anonymity declared.<\/p>\n
Sylva was said to have initially told most governorship aspirants that he
\nwas not running and actually collected huge sums of money from at least
\nsix persons with the understanding that he will make them the APC
\ncandidate only to turn around as aspirant and eventually maneuvered the
\nelectoral process to clinch the ticket.<\/p>\n
This, it was further gathered, had sowed the seed of discord between Sylva
\nand the other former aspirants who are believed to be engaging in a \u2018sidon
\nlook\u201d attitude towards the election.<\/p>\n
“Running a governorship election is money consuming and in the current
\ncircumstance of the APC in Bayelsa State, Sylva would have to take every
\nstep that could fetch needed funds including selling his properties”, the
\nsource emphasised.<\/p>\n
Another source who also pleaded anonymity revealed that the liquidity
\ncrunch in the campaign was further compounded because of the feeling among
\nsome influential persons whom Sylva had earlier contacted but who were
\nsaid to be less enthusiastic about the governorship project on the
\nunderstanding that Sylva may likely lose the election and afraid about how
\nthey could recoup their money.<\/p>\n
One of such financiers who lives in Lagos was said to have been promised
\nthe ministerial slot for Bayelsa State but was curiously replaced by
\nSenator Heineken Lokpobiri.<\/p>\n
The source said Sylva\u2019s burning desire to become the candidate was
\ninformed by the notion that once he picked the ticket, he will get massive
\nfinancial support from the APC-led Federal Government but now a day dream
\nas President Muhammadu Buhari was not ready to dip hands into the treasury
\nto fund the campaign.<\/p>\n
A reliable source at the Aso Villa in Abuja who corroborated this
\ndevelopment said all efforts to get the president to direct release of
\nfunds to back Sylva\u2019s campaign have failed as the president might have
\nfelt a moral burden over corruption charges against Sylva before the EFCC.<\/p>\n
Sylva\u2019s key supporters in the Presidency who actually played strategic
\nroles in his emergence as APC candidate were also said to have advised him
\nto seek alternative sources of funding.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a group, Bayelsa Integrity Forum (BIF) has raised alarm over
\nchoice properties said to be on offer for sale by the former governor.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued In Yenagoa, the state capital on Saturday, the group
\nwarned members of the public to be wary of patronizing Sylva\u2019s agents as
\nthe properties being put on sale in Abuja and Lagos were under the watch
\nof the EFCC and as such prospective buyers risk losing money in such
\ntransaction.<\/p>\n
The statement signed by the group\u2019s spokesman, Albert Ebikeme, further
\nwarned that those who buy such properties could also be liable to
\nprosecution and a whole scam with liabilities.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cEverybody is aware that Timipre Sylva is broke and now selling
\nhis choice properties in Abuja and those in Lekki and Ikoyi in Lagos. But
\nbased on the antecedents of Sylva, our people have to be cautious. Recall
\nthis same man deceived a number of his party men promising them
\ngovernorship tickets and in the process collected huge sums of money from
\nthem only to turn around and ran for the same slot himself.<\/p>\n
“So the question of integrity is there, moreso when these properties are
\nunder investigation by the EFCC. Definitely it\u2019s a risky business and our
\npeople must be careful in patronizing Sylva in the sale of these
\nproperties.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indications emerged on Saturday that the Bayelsa State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, is broke and may have resorted to selling his properties to raise…<\/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-43021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n