Political turmoil is tearing the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State apart as some aggrieved chieftains and close associates of the party’s candidate, Timipre Sylva, pull out of his governorship project ahead of the November 11 governorship polls, writes DANIELS IGONI
Based on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s timetable and schedule of activities for the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states, political parties participating in the polls commenced their campaigns on June 14.
Therefore, the All Progressives Congress and its governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva were expected by their supporters to be fine-tuning plans to carry out campaigns across the state to woo voters ahead of the polls. But that appears not to be the situation at the moment.
This is because the state chapter of the APC is embroiled in a fresh crisis as some aggrieved staunch members have decided to withdraw their support for Sylva. And there are fears in his political camp that the raging rancour could weaken the party, deplete his support base and scuttle his burning ambition to govern Bayelsa State for a second term.
Reports indicated that a former member of the Ninth National Assembly, Israel Sunny-Goli, who represented Nembe-Brass Federal Constituency, is the arrowhead of the anti-Sylva elements.
Other political actors that have been linked to the current crisis in the party include the incumbent lawmaker representing Nembe Constituency II at the state House of Assembly, Edward Irigha-Brigidi; three former governorship aspirants namely, David Lyon, Mrs Ogbomade Johnson and Festus Daumiebi who slugged it out with Sylva for the party’s ticket in the April 14 and 15 primary election; and a former commissioner for environment, Robert Enogha. Incidentally, they are all believed to be Sylva’s close political associates.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that their rebellion was generating unease in the party and also rattled the political camp of the former governor and immediate past minister of state for petroleum resources.
Since Sylva emerged as the standard flagbearer of the APC, polling 52,061 votes to beat his challengers; Joshua Maciver (2,078 votes), Lyon (1,584 votes), Prof. Ongoebi Etebu (1,277 votes), Johnson (584) and Daumiebi (557 votes), all had not been well with the party in the state. Some camps within the party were opposed to his aspiration while others supported him even before the exercise was conducted.
When he was eventually announced the winner, Lyon who was the party’s governorship candidate in 2019 and Daumiebi were the first party bigwigs that vehemently rejected the outcome of the primary election. Daumiebi had threatened to seek legal redress over the exercise and its result, though he eventually did not approach the court.
But at present, Sylva is battling to survive at least three legal hurdles with unpredictable conclusions, in addition to the political brinkmanship threatening his governorship project and the chances of his party winning the election.
For instance, in two separate suits, Johnson, who came a distant fifth in the primaries, is challenging Sylva’s emergence as the governorship candidate of the party and the eligibility of his running mate, Maciver, who came second in the exercise.
Another APC member, Demesuoyefa Kokomo, is also in court asking INEC to remove Sylva’s name from the list of contesting candidates for the Bayelsa State governorship poll, claiming that he (Sylva) had twice been elected in April 2007 and May 2008.
Apart from Johnson and Kokomo, a former national deputy publicity secretary of the party, Timi Frank, is also in court pressing criminal charges against Sylva over alleged inconsistencies in his name and that he did not participate in the National Youth Service Corps programme.
It was learnt that in the current imbroglio, Sunny-Goli and his co-travellers were angry with Sylva for imposing Maciver, an ex-militant leader, on the party as his running mate without due consultations. They are said to have also cited the lingering crisis of confidence that Sylva’s alleged undemocratic leadership style had brought upon the state chapter of the APC before and after his emergence as the standard flagbearer.
The aggrieved stalwarts are also complaining that they are fed up with Sylva’s style of continued exclusion of critical stakeholders in decision-making, alleged threat to life and shabby treatment of followers as well as a violent response to concerns raised by eminent members of the APC in the state.
In particular, Sunny-Goli is said to be dissatisfied with Sylva’s alleged poor handling of the intra-communal crisis in Opu-Nembe, precisely the Bassambiri community, which led to the loss of lives and votes for the APC in the 2023 National Assembly polls, which occasioned his (Sunny-Goli’s) defeat and inability to get re-elected despite his performance in office.
He and his political associates are also reported to be fuming over how a former chairman of the Nembe Local Government Council, Victor Isaiah, was welcomed into the APC and given the party’s political leadership of the area, while unresolved controversies were hanging on his neck over events that occurred in the build-up to the 2019 governorship election.
A few days ago, the former legislator gave an insight into the infighting occasioned by their decision when he posted a message on his Facebook wall, saying, “This is to inform all my supporters, followers, as well as the general public, that in the coming week, I shall be making a major decision about the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State. I shall use the opportunity to inform my supporters and followers where we stand and the direction we are taking.”
Until recently, Sunny-Goli was a known confidant of the former minister and benefactor of his political exploits. Before his election into the House of Representatives in 2019, Sunny-Goli had served as a legislator in the state House of Assembly on the platform of the APC and was also a special adviser on youth mobilisation during the administration of Sylva as governor of Bayelsa State. Sunny-Goli also spoke on behalf of Sylva after the national panel for the primaries declared him the winner of the exercise at the state party secretariat in Yenagoa, accepting the outcome.
Speaking in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, Sunny-Goli declared that Sylva would not be governor of the state, insisting that he would not back him for the forthcoming political contest and that he would also address a press conference next week on his plans. The APC chieftain said he would not defect from the party while fighting his cause, adding that whatever transpired during the primary polls belonged to that stage of the process.
He said, “I’m not leaving the party, but Timipre Sylva cannot be governor of Bayelsa State. I will soon issue a statement and hold a press conference by next week. I’m not going to support him at all. The primary election was a primary election, and whatever happened then was for that period.”
Confirming the reasons for his decision, Sunny-Goli said, “How can we give you a ticket and you picked a deputy (running mate) without consulting anybody? Is he (Sylva) an emperor? I don’t work that way. I made a statement on my Facebook wall, and I will soon be speaking (about my decision). Next week, I will address a press conference and let the fireworks continue.
“But I can tell you for free that as of today (July 25), all those who will work (for Sylva) in the eight local government areas are all gone. Three months (before the election) is not something you can use to plan anything. Do you think I am alone? Don’t I have supporters? I have supporters. I can’t speak for others.”
Some of the aggrieved chieftains declined comments on the controversy, preferring to keep their plans to their chest. But one of them, who did not want to be mentioned, said, “Henceforth, monkey will not work for baboon to chop again. Monkey go work for monkey to chop! Baboon go work for baboon to chop!”
However, the state APC leadership has said that the party would not fret despite the current political brouhaha that has enveloped the party. The state APC Organising Secretary, Dr Tokpo Coronation, who stated this in an interview, said the party would address the issues in the days ahead and would not like to pre-empt those withdrawing their support for the Sylva project.
He said, “We are likely to address these matters comprehensively in the coming days. We don’t want to pre-empt them. They have promised that by next week or so, they will come out to tell Bayelsans what they will do next. So, we will rather wait for that.
“When they say what they can do, we should be able to address such matters comprehensively. We don’t want to pre-empt them and say anything they want to say or what they intend to do. It is not necessarily about a running mate. I know the grievances of Hon. Israel Sunny-Goli. He has personally disclosed them to me but I don’t want to make it public for now until he says what he said he will do in the coming days.”
Coronation further stated that the APC was not in the dark over the problems bedevilling the party in the state, noting that some of them are recent matters that are not connected to the issue arising from the deputy governorship candidate choice.
He, however, rationalised that the APC was not the only party grappling with the grievances of dissatisfied members, pointing out that even the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state has a similar political undercurrent brewing in their fold.
The state APC organising secretary further said, “It is not that the party is unaware of what is happening, but some of the issues are very recent developments, not necessarily related to the issue of the selection of a deputy governorship candidate. I don’t know about the other aggrieved persons, but I know that Edward Irigha-Brigidi is also aggrieved; I have not heard about Robert Enogha and the others.
“The truth of the matter is that things are not perfect in the party. We know. The same thing is happening in the PDP. In the PDP, there are many aggrieved people, especially with the recent appointments (into caretaker committees for local government councils and rural development authorities by Governor Douye Diri).
“One of my colleagues in the State Executive Council told me how people in his ward and constituency came to meet him because they were expectant, but at the end of the day, they were disappointed. So, they want to take certain actions. Even in my community, some people have approached me with things like that. So, it’s not one-way traffic. People are aggrieved on both sides.
“It’s a trying period, but we have nothing to panic about. The APC has nothing to panic about. We will address a press conference to this effect in the coming days once they make public what they intend to do.”
It is, however, believed in some quarters that the PDP and the Labour Party might become major beneficiaries of the political turmoil tearing the APC in Bayelsa State apart if the party does not put its house in order and rein in the dissident chieftains before the polls.
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
