The suspension of former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State by the<\/p>\n
All Progressives Congress, APC, has taken a new twist as investigations
\nreveal that he has fallen apart with the Minister of State for
\nAgriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri over N600 million ministerial appointment
\ndeal.<\/p>\n
A political movement in the Bayelsa State Chapter of the All Progressives
\nCongress (APC), under the aegis of APC Bayelsa Good Governance Group, on
\nSunday said it had it on good authority that Sylva was annoyed that
\nLokpobiri had refused to pay the remaining N200 million because he only
\ngot the position of a junior minister.<\/p>\n
The group alleged that Sylva was busy selling federal appointments to his
\ncronies including the appointment of Lokpobiri at the cost of N600
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
“During the bargain, Lokpobiri dropped an advance payment of N400 million
\nfor Sylva but declined payment of the balance of N200 million because he
\nwas given a junior minister. But replied Lokpobiri to account for the N1
\nbillion he got from campaign during the last Bayelsa State governorship
\nelection. This is the cause of their fighting, we are therefore calling on
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari to direct anti-graft agencies to investigate
\nthis matter and get Sylva arrested”, the coordinator of the group, Douye
\nAlex Panebi, said in a statement in Yenagoa.<\/p>\n
This, he said explained why the organisation supported the decision to
\nsuspend Sylva as a corrective measure to bring back sanity into the party.<\/p>\n
Sylva and four other members of the APC were on Saturday handed indefinite
\nsuspension by the party\u2019s leadership citing alleged anti party activities
\nand other forms of misbehaviour deemed to be inimical to the progress of
\nAPC in Bayelsa state.<\/p>\n
The organisation which reflected on the loss of the APC in the last
\nelection and recent crisis within the party in the state said that but for
\nthe inordinate ambition of the Sylva during the last governorship
\nelection, APC could have posted a better result.<\/p>\n
The group said “Sylva\u2019s greed, deceit and terrible track record as a
\nformer governor caused APC’s defeat at the polls and his subsequent
\nconduct had only worsened the situation in the party in Bayelsa state.”<\/p>\n
Panebi also alleged that Sylva was already busy in Abuja selling federal
\nappointments to cronies and thus causing disaffection within the party.<\/p>\n
He said, “We must be honest and accept the fact that Sylva\u2019s emergence as
\ncandidate was the reason for our misfortune at the last election. We were
\nroundly beaten at the polls because Sylva was a bad product. That is why
\neven the ongoing case at the tribunal is a clear waste of time and
\nresources, another conduit for Sylva to further scam people of their money
\nas he goes about assuring people that the presidency has directed the
\njudiciary to return him as governor.<\/p>\n
“That was how he went about deceiving everybody that he was not going to
\ncontest the governorship election and then collecting money from all the
\naspirants promising each of them the ticket, he turned around to
\neventually contest. He didn\u2019t stop there, he we went ahead to hoodwink
\neveryone of us into believing that he has the backing of the president,
\nboasting that he had federal might and that INEC had been instructed to
\nreturn him as governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor that reason, many of us sold properties to contribute to his campaign
\nwith the promise of a juicy appointment in return as reward. Little did we
\nrealize that it was all a scam. Sylva deceived so many people who worked
\nhard and spent hard earned money on his election. Rather than reward those
\npeople who worked hard for his campaign, he is busy in Abuja selling
\nappointments to his cronies to raise money to bribe the judiciary to grant
\nhim victory at the tribunal while using the office of the secretary to the
\nfederation and the presidency to intimidate the judiciary\u201d.<\/p>\n
Members of the group who were said to be loyal to the Tiwe Oruminighe-led
\nleadership in Bayelsa state said they fully back the suspension of the
\nformer governor given what they described as his “penchant for deceit,
\nviolence and corrupt tendencies” which led to the party\u2019s humiliating
\ndefeat at the just concluded polls.<\/p>\n
While calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and the graft bodies to
\ninvestigate the allegation, the group insisted that the right thing to do
\nwas for the president to direct the relevant agencies to immediately
\narrest Sylva for corruption.<\/p>\n
The group also called on the national leadership of the APC to prevail on
\nthe president to stop Sylva from parading himself as leader of the party
\nin the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The suspension of former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State by the All Progressives Congress, APC, has taken a new twist as investigations reveal that he has fallen apart with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n