The governorship election scheduled to hold in Bayelsa State in November has been dubbed the battle for the soul of the oil-rich state. Some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are not happy with the decision to field the immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, as candidate. The division, it is said, is likely to mar the party’s chances in the contest. Correspondent SIMON UTEBOR reports
Based on its performance in the last governorship election in Bayelsa State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) can no longer be referred to as an underdog in the forthcoming contest in the oil-rich South-South state. In the last election, which took place in November 2019, the party fielded David Lyon against the incumbent Governor Duoye Diri of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and succeeded in winning against all the odds stacked against it. But, the victory was eventually nullified by the Supreme Court because of the inconsistency discovered in the name of the party’s governorship running mate, Senator Biobarakuma Wangagha Degi Eremienyo.
Many observers believe the party would have had a better chance of repeating the 2019 feat if it fields Lyon a second time. But, the party thinks otherwise; it has lined up the immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva to face the incumbent governor in the election. This development has been greeted with mixed feelings by supporters of the party. Many political observers were shocked that he could condescend to vying for the party’s governorship ticket with Lyon who was more or less his godson in the last election. Many of them have been wondering why he is desperate to return to the Creek Haven Government House. This is particularly curious because he had during an interview with a Yenagoa-based radio station vowed that he would never contest for that office again.
The consensus on the streets of Yenagoa is that if Sylva and the APC leadership had allowed Lyon to have the right of first refusal and allowed him to fly the party’s flag, the development would have sent jitters to the PDP. It would have a rematch between Lyon and Governor Diri who is seeking a second term. The general feeling is that PDP chieftains and supporters are more favourably disposed to squaring off against Sylva in the November election than Lyon because many of those who voted for him during the last election will probably still do so if he had emerged as the APC candidate. Prominent PDP chieftains were said to have clinked glasses and jubilated when they heard that Sylva had picked the APC ticket.
For many political watchers, Sylva’s change of mind has put a huge moral burden on him which might eventually work against the APC at the election. They believe that Bayelsa has moved beyond Sylva and that his interest to govern the state again is a hilarious joke taken too far. For the PDP, Sylva is a political featherweight who has lost his steam and could easily be defeated.
Considering the perceived cracks in Bayelsa APC, political observers believe that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Unlike the situation before the 2019 election when the APC formed a coalition with many disgruntled PDP members, there are different political camps in the opposition party today. Under the leadership of Sylva, the party appears heavily polarised; no thanks to his alleged maverick style of leadership. Before now, the APC boasted great and prominent politicians in its fold. But most of them have either left the party or are simply indifferent about the party’s quest to dislodge the ruling PDP this time around.
Many critical stakeholders in the Bayelsa APC are uncomfortable with his leadership style as there appears to be a mutual suspicion among the chieftains of the party. This development if allowed to fester will work against the party’s ambition in the coming poll. Sylva appears to have a credibility crisis and has a lot to do to convince his followers and party faithful that he is a man of his word. For instance, during the 2015 governorship election, Sylva told many of his followers that he was not going to contest.
The assurance prompted some of his foot soldiers to purchase the governorship forms because he had promised to back some of them. They sheepishly believed him but he went ahead to contest the governorship election. The result: he failed woefully. He barely managed to win only his Nembe Local Government Area out of the eight councils that make up the state.
It was gathered that the just concluded general election was poorly handled by him too. The dust generated during the party’s primaries had hardly settled when the general election was held and the result was a poor performance for the APC, which lost all the eight National Assembly seats to the PDP.
Before the party’s primaries, Sylva allegedly convened a meeting of stakeholders in a bid to come up with a working modality for the conduct. The meeting presided over by him, opted for consensus candidates instead of conducting elections. The exercise did not sit well with many aspirants and they opposed it openly. The imposition of unpopular candidates was not only devastating but caused unimaginable disenchantment which led to a humiliating loss for the party in the National Assembly elections.
The APC lost all the senatorial seats, as well as the House of Representatives seats. The party managed to secure three seats out of 24 in the state House of Assembly. But, Sylva’s bid to vie for the party’s governorship ticket against David Lyon appears to have polarized the party ahead of the election. The people of Bayelsa still sympathize with Lyon over the nullification of his 2019 victory due to no fault of his.
Many people claim that Degi Eremienyo, Lyon’s running mate in the last election, was nominated by Sylva and that he could not feign ignorance of the legal encumbrances against him. He was accused of not conducting due diligence on Degi Eremienyo before he was made the running mate to Lyon. It was gathered that when a few concerned party members saw the danger ahead and drew Sylva’s attention to the issue, he simply dismissed it with a wave of the hand and took everything for granted. It was not surprising that the Supreme Court nullified the election 24 hours before the inauguration. It is believed that when one juxtaposes the schisms in the party with the political reality on the ground, Sylva may just be chasing shadows and his loss might be worse than that of the 2015 governorship election.
Sylva had clinched the ticket for November 11 election after defeating the 2019 candidate, Lyon and four other aspirants during the primary that took place on April 14 across 105 wards in the eight local governments of the state. The APC adopted the direct mode of primary. At the end of the day, Sylva polled 52, 061 votes to beat the other contenders for the governorship ticket. Lyon came a distant third with 1, 872 votes, while Joshua Maciver, now the running mate of Sylva, came second with 2, 078 votes.
However, the outcome of the primary that produced Sylva as the party’s candidate for the November election did not bode well with some of the aspirants. Two out of the six aspirants — David Lyon and Festus Daumiebi — had questioned the outcome of the process that threw up Sylva as the governorship candidate. The duo described the process as a sham, irresponsible and criminal because, according to them, it was marred by irregularities. They had called for its cancellation.
Lyon and Daumiebi’s rejection of the process, coupled with those of others who were not happy about it but chose to sit on the fence is a clear indication that the party is approaching the election as a divided house. Daumiebi in particular had claimed that there was no election in the wards across the state because officials of the party who were sent to conduct the election failed to turn up. He also complained that the April 14 governorship primary was only held in selected places where the election officials tried to put up a show to convince the party’s national leadership that there was an election. He said the process was marred by irregularities and that it was heavily compromised.
Daumiebi’s statement reads: “Notice is hereby given to the general public, particularly the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State and the National Executive Council that I, Festus Daumiebi Sunday, a governorship aspirant of the APC, do reject in its entirety what was announced as the result of the party primary election.
“Let it be known that on Friday the 14th of April 2023 some card-carrying members of the All Progressives Congress turned out at various wards to cast their vote in what was promised to be a free, fair and credible primary election. They waited all day but sadly there was no election in the wards across the state, as officials of the party who were sent to conduct the election failed to turn up; neither were there electoral materials seen in the said wards.
“In selected places, they tried to pass off a simulation of an election. But, the process was undermined, marred by irregularities and heavily compromised. Party officials failed to abide by the party guidelines and agreed processes. Upon reaching the party secretariat on Saturday 15th April, I was shocked to observe that heavy numbers have been concocted for their preferred aspirant and then a return was made in the open as programmed.”
Political pundits are of the view that the APC leader in Bayelsa, who incidentally is the standard bearer, should ensure that there is a reconciliation with the aggrieved ferent we are calling on Lyon and his supporters to rally behind Sylva to take back the state.”
Supporters of the former are convinced that young persons are favourably disposed to Sylva’s candidacy; they believe the former governor holds the ace because of his political experience and track record of performance in past positions. The Bayelsa New Generation Leaders (BNGL), which is made up of young politicians from across the eight local governments, has declared its support for the APC candidate in the election scheduled to take place on November 11.
The group has indicated that it backing Sylva because of the recent nomination of Great Joshua Maciver, a philanthropist and a notable Ijaw activist, as his running mate. The BNGL Director General, Apostle Bodmas Prince Kemepadei, said Maciver’s emergence as Sylva’s running mate is a step towards restoring the glory and honour of the Ijaw people. Kemepadei said: “The choice of distinguished Great Joshua Maciver as a deputy governorship candidate is an excellent joint ticket. This is because Maciver is innovative, transparent, sincere, upright, a lover of development and a builder of human capacity.
“He did well as a former chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government in terms of road construction, the pursuit of development-oriented goals and empowerment of constituents. Maciver is also loved beyond party lines and across the Ijaw nation. This will enable him to garner the needed support to influence votes in APC’s favour.”
He said Sylva’s opponents are already jittery because of the emergence of Maciver as his running mate.
He added: “Rather than market their candidate, the opposition has resorted to a smear campaign to abuse the minds of the masses in a bid to sway votes using the instrumentality of propaganda. But, this is just a futile attempt and the last kick of a dying horse. We urge Chief Timipre Sylva to be resolute, focused and not to be distracted by the gimmicks of distractors, because Bayelsans are solidly behind him.”
A group of former councillors, under the aegis of the Bayelsa State Councillors Forum Chairman (2010 to 2013), has also declared support for Sylva’s candidacy. Its chairman, Adaga Godswill has said the state is not progressing under the PDP and that the Sylva/Maciver ticket of the APC is capable of turning the fortunes of the state around. Godswill alleged that despite the funds received by the current administration through Federal Allocation, IGR, 13 per cent derivation and Paris Club refunds which amounted to trillions of naira, there were no tangible and concrete proofs of usage as the situation of the oil-rich state keeps deteriorating.
Describing the situation of Bayelsa as quite unfortunate, the grassroots politician was optimistic that Bayelsans would experience light at the end of the tunnel, by voting for Sylva in the next election.
He stated: “I am using this medium to call on my 105 former councillors to put up their seat belts and get ready for an issues-based campaign across the length and breadth of Bayelsa for a house-to-house, door-to-door campaigns and sensitisation for the Sylva/MacIver ticket.
“Posterity will not vindicate us if as Bayelsans we cannot stand against the ineptitude of underdevelopment in our dear state and vote for Sylva who has shown capacity in his previous positions.”
Already, the seething political pot has started spilling its contents and the race is filled with the frenzy, intrigues, propaganda and the dramas that come with politicking. But, whether Sylva will be able to weather the storm and return to the Creek Haven he left 11 years ago, only time will tell.
