The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Sylva

  • Southsouth APC: recall Sylva, others

    Southsouth APC: recall Sylva, others

    The Southsouth Zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the suspension of former Bayelsa State Governor Timiprieye Sylva and four others by the state chapter of the party is null and void and of no effect.

    The zonal leadership of the party also declared as null and void the suspension of APC’s state chairman and his secretary by a faction of the party.

    It directed those involved in the suspension and counter-suspension of the party’s members and officials to maintain the status quo ante, pending the conclusion of investigations.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja by APC National Vice Chairman (Southsouth), Prince Hilliard Eta, the party expressed sadness over the ongoing crisis in the Bayelsa chapter.

    It regretted the crisis in the state chapter when the party chieftains were expected to united and face the election petitions arising from the last governorship rerun.

    The statement reads: “The spate of suspension, counter-suspension and general disorganisation of the Bayelsa chapter of our party …is disheartening.

    “That the chapter could be on the war path at a time it should be cohesively charting ways of successfully prosecuting the election petitions tribunal, the case concerning the recently held governorship election in which Seriake Dickson supposedly won, is even more saddening.

    “As the chairman of the party in the zone, I am particularly miffed by the state of affairs in Bayelsa APC and I publicly exhort the aggrieved parties to sheathe their swords.

    “Going by the provisions of Article 21 of the amended constitution of our party, the suspensions are null and void and done in bad faith. In the article, our constitution lucidly outlines the steps to be diligently followed for a party member or executive to be suspended.

    “In the light of the above, the suspensions going on in Bayelsa, as far as the party is concerned, are entirely null and void. In the interest of the party and those immediately concerned, the state chapter of the party should revert to the status quo ante.

    “The zonal organ has directed a committee to examine the remote and immediate causes of the rift and when the committee submits its finding, we shall take appropriate measures to reconcile the different interests. In the spirit of change, let there be peace.”

    But the leadership of the party in the state dismissed the statement credited to the national leadership declaring the suspension of former Governor Sylva and four others as illegal, null and void

    In a statement in Abuja, the state Chairman of the party, Chief Timipa TIwei Orunimighe, said APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) had not met on the matter and had not made any pronouncement.

    He added that the suspension of Sylva remained, pending the outcome of investigations.

     

  • Confusion in Bayelsa APC over suspension of Sylva, 4 others

    Confusion in Bayelsa APC over suspension of Sylva, 4 others

    THE All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State was at the weekend thrown into confusion following the purported suspension of former governor Timipre Sylva and other members of the executive committee of the party.
    Sylva was allegedly suspended for “anti- party activities and attempt to frustrate the change agenda of the Buhari administration in the state.”
    A faction of the party accused him of holding clandestine meetings with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in contravention of the party’s constitution.
    The group said it suspended Sylva with the vice chairman (Bayelsa Central), Joseph Fafi; Publicity Secretary, Panebi Fortune; Organising Secretary, Tonye Okio, and a member.
    They also accused Sylva of trying to form a parallel state executive in contravention of Article 21 of the party constitution which stipulates that factionalisation or creating parallel party organs at any level is punishable by the extremists of means.
    A statement by Bayelsa APC’s chairman and secretary, Chief Timipa Orunimighe and Daniel Marlin, said the antics of the former governor betray the present posture of Buhari’s regime which has cardinal virtues of honesty, sincerity and transparency.
    The statement said: “After due consultations with relevant stake holders and elders in the state, the Bayelsa State executive committee at an emergency meeting today took the painful but necessary decision to suspend our guber flag bearer in the 2015 elections Chief Timipre Sylva.
    “We have it on good record Sylva, last week Tuesday precisely, paid a clandestine visit to one of the South South governors of the PDP, this is just one of the series of correspondences between them and we find it grossly unbecoming.”
    But the faction loyal to the former governor described Orunminigbe and others behind the purported suspension of Sylva as jesters.
    The Publicity Secretary, Panebi Fortune, said it was laughable for Oruminighe, who was earlier suspended, to turn around to say Sylva was on suspension.
    Fortune said: “They are fighting a lost battle because two people cannot suspend any of us. We properly constituted a meeting of the state executive council where about 21 of us took a decision that suspended Oruminighe and his cohorts.
    “Their suspension stands because it was done in accordance with the rules and procedures of the party. We have facts and proofs on their illegal activities that led to their suspension. Let them provide evidence that we ever engaged in anti-party activities.”
    Twenty-one members of the state executive council on Friday suspended Orunimigha, his deputy, Eddy Julius and the Secretary, Daniel Marlin.
    They accused them of gross misconduct, financial embezzlement and anti-party activities.
    The decision to suspend Tiwe and his group was at the end of an emergency meeting in Yenagoa.
    The members declared Fafi and Alabo Martins as the interim chairman and secretary respectively.
    The statement at the end of the emergency meeting read: “At an emergency State Executive Committee meeting held on 1st of April, 2016, the following were reached that the cases of gross misconduct, financial embezzlement and anti-party activity against the State Chairman, Chief Tiwei Orunimighe, the Deputy Chairman, Eddy Julius and State Secretary, Daniel Marlin.”
    “The State chapter of the party this day therefore has placed the aforementioned individuals on indefinite suspension pending the conclusion of investigations.”

  • Bayelsa ANA celebrates authors, young Sylva

    The recently concluded World Book Day was celebrated with fanfare in Bayelsa State. It saw the gathering of writers, authors, publishers and persons with creative ability at the Ijaw House, Yenagoa.

    The writers were assembled to mark their day by the state chapter of the Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA). They seized the opportunity to celebrate their achievements, showcased their works and encouraged reading.

    It was a lively and colorful event as different books, articles, short stories and collection of poems were on display. ANA was particularly concerned about the dying reading culture among the youths. The body spent time to encourage the youths to take reading seriously.

    The state Chairman, ANA, Mr. Mike Afenfia, lamented that over 40 per cent of children between the ages of six to 11 had no access to schools. He said one of the targets of ANA was to bring back the books by encouraging the younger population to adopt the culture of reading.

    He insisted that reading will only benefit the society if it is targeted at the youths adding that youths will stop indulging in criminality by constantly reading books. For example he said ANA through its campaign to promote reading excellence, would focus on girl-child education and advancing excellence among the youths.

    He pointed out that lack of motivation was one the reasons for the dying culture of academic excellence. He derided some multinational companies and private organisations in Bayelsa for their inability to encourage excellence bye celebrating students who came tops in their classes and disciplines. He said the absence of such motivation dampens the spirits of healthy competition among the youths.

    He said: “As responsible members of the society, we owe it to strongly promote education be it girl child education or boy child education.”

    Afenfia said ANA was determined to lead by example. He immediately announced a presentation of a cheque of N25,000 to support Master Benjamin Sylva in his academic pursuit. Sylva emerged as the overall best student in an event organized by ANA at Ayama Montessori Secondary School in Yenagoa.

    Presenting the cheque, Fefegha said ANA spotted Sylva as a talent and would want to encourage him. He said the body’s little gesture would go a long way in encouraging the youth. He said Sylva would grow up knowing that he was once celebrated for his brilliance.

    “I believe strongly that apart from whatever gift he may have and whatever effort the school may have made in nurturing his talent, his parents too should be commended”, he said.

    On the abduction and forceful marriage of Ese Oruru by the Kano State-born Yinusa Dahiru, alias Yellow, Afenfia strongly condemned it describing it as criminal. He called on parents to give their children adequate attention at home.

    In his response, the young Sylva described ANA’s gesture as a wonderful experience. He said it was heartwarming to know that his years of hard labour and studying did not go unnoticed. Sylva said he felt motivated to pursue academic excellence following the encouragement by ANA.

    He advised other children to embrace reading culture saying it would help them in the future. He commended ANA for its kind gesture and advised the body to keep the flag flying.

  • Yenagoa: 400 labour cases pending before Industrial Court

    Justice James Agbadu-Fishim of the Yenegoa Division of National Industrial Court, has expressed worry over the high number of pending cases before the court.

    Agbadu-Fishim, said on Tuesday at the 2016 inaugural sitting of the court in Yenagoa, that over 400 cases were pending before the court.

    He noted that the high number of cases was partly due to the prolonged crisis in Rivers Judiciary which made litigants from the state to besiege the Yenagoa court.

    According to him, the situation has overwhelmed the court and appealed to the Nigerian Bar Association in Rivers to redouble ongoing efforts to facilitate the early reopening of the Port Harcourt division of the court.

    He warned lawyers appearing before him to refrain from seeking frivolous adjournments, stressing that the labour court was set up to fast track access to justice.

    “This is a special court for labour related matters bordering on workers wages, salaries and welfare and with more than 400 cases before me any lawyer request for unnecessary adjournment cannot be entertained because my diary is full.

    “I cannot afford wasting anytime because our rules are meant to drastically reduce the time it takes claimants to get redress, ” Agbadu-Fishim said.

    Some of the litigants lamented that the closure of the Industrial Court in Port Harcourt was causing them untold hardship.

    One of them, Mr. Olusegun Precious, said “you can see the problems that 16 out of the 17 cases listed for mention Tuesday are all from Port Harcourt.

    “The implication is heavy financially because you will be forced to travel a day earlier and pay hotel bills to be in court by 9 am.

    “And when you do that for yourself and your lawyers you can appreciate the weight of the burden; and when one Industrial Court is serving many states, delay becomes imminent.”

  • Sylva rejects Bayelsa governorship poll result 

    Sylva rejects Bayelsa governorship poll result 

    •APC candidate heads for tribunal

    Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Chief Timipre Sylva alleged yesterday that the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conspired with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to “rig” him out of the election.

    Sylva, who vowed to challenge what he described as the procured victory of the PDP in court, said the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Baritor Kpagir, deliberately set up a process to return the PDP candidate and Governor Seriake Dickson.

    He said following allegations against the REC in the December 5 election, Kpagir lacked the legally required neutrality to go ahead and conduct the January 9 election.

    The APC candidate, who spoke in Yenagoa, the state capital, added that the REC became an interested party when he jumped into the arena to accuse an unknown candidate of trying to induce him with bribe.

    Sylva said although the INEC national secretariat sent some RECs to the state for the election, the delegates arrived after Kpagir allegedly perfected his plot to return the PDP candidate.

    He said most of the collation officers and other ad-hoc employees of INEC, who conducted the election, were relations of PDP members.

    The governorship candidate said: “Well, as far as the REC was concerned, I did not just write petition, I did not just write for change of the REC, even the REC at some point descended to the arena and had to join issues with us, accusing a faceless candidate of offering him bribe.

    “A REC like that, who is quarrelling with the candidate in an election, is allowed to conduct the same election? I have never seen this. It has never happened anywhere in Nigeria before. But unfortunately, I didn’t get a reprieve as you know.

    “In that case, you don’t expect me to opt out of the election because they have refused to change the REC. I was forced as a candidate because if I said I wasn’t going to subject myself to the election, what were the options? I don’t have any options.

    “INEC was the body to conduct the election, and I cried out to INEC over and over again to change the REC, but INEC refused to change him.

    “What will I do? Of course, I went into the election unfortunately hoping at that time  that the REC fortunately will have a change of heart. But you can see from the events that they were just ensuring that the APC lost that election.”

    Sylva said the REC deliberately ensured that some areas in the local government areas he won in December 5 election were cancelled and arranged a rerun election that took place in December 6.

    He alleged that the state INEC was set up as part of the rigging machine of the PDP, adding that the same commission returned the former President Goodluck Jonathan in the last presidential election.

    “If you look at the event from the beginning on December 5, we won in a local government and they cancelled a section of that local government, reordered election the next day, almost without  informing us.

    “Meanwhile, there were other areas as well that were outstanding in the election. But those areas that they were interested in, they held a rerun on Sunday in those areas and then said that there was going to be a rerun for the other areas on January 9.

    “Why didn’t they shift the rerun in those areas? You can see from the beginning that INEC was  playing a game. This INEC in Bayelsa State  was set up as part of the rigging machine of the PDP and I have said it over and over,” he said.

    Sylva said as part of plans to frustrate the APC in the Southern Ijaw election, the state INEC ensured that materials meant for far communities were distributed late.

    He added that the commission, in collusion with the PDP, sent materials in nearby PDP strongholds a day before the election and sent materials in far areas of APC strongholds on the day of the election.

    “How can they ever justify a situation where materials of the farthest community were sent last and materials to the nearest communities were sent first because they knew that the farthest communities were our strongholds.

    “So clearly, there was a collusion between the local INEC and the PDP. Some people will say okay that they sent more RECs from Cross River and then you ask the question, when did those RECs arrive? The time those RECs arrived, the damage had been done.”

    Sylva said when he pointed out the alleged anomaly in the appointment of the collation officers that conducted the poll, the REC said he wanted experienced people.

    He said: “The SPOs had been appointed. The SPOs were mostly their people. When I made the case that the SPOs were mostly their people, the REC told me that the instruction was for him to use experienced SPOs. Experienced in the act of rigging an election?

    “That means these SPOs should be SPOs that had conducted an election before and these elections were the presidential election, the House of Assembly election and  you know the outcome of those elections. So, the same sort of SPOs that rigged the other election for them were used.

    “We are contesting an election and I said from the beginning that I did not have confidence in the REC and the Administrative Secretary and I did not expect a free and fair election in the way they were going to preside over the election.

    “I said so over, over and over and I reduced it to writing and we sent these petitions. Usually before an election of this nature, the INEC officials are switched. Sometimes, they send them to another state and bring another electoral commissioner from another state.

    “This time, they decided to keep this team that was in place and set up by the PDP as a rigging machine. This was the same team that returned almost 100 per cent votes in Bayelsa to the former President. And we feel that these people could not have  given us a free and fair treatment and we said it over and over again, but unfortunately, our cries fell on deaf ears.”

    Sylva said INEC and the PDP also adopted a strategy of cancelling elections in the areas the APC won and upholding the results that favoured the PDP.

    He said based on the 53,000 cancelled votes, the election should have been declared inconclusive since the figure was higher than the difference between him and Dickson.

    “And as far as we are concerned, we are going to discuss with our lawyers,”he said.

    PDP:  he’ ll lose at tribunal

    THE Restoration Campaign Organisation of Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, will lose at the tribunal, if he decides to contest the outcome of the election.

    In a statement yesterday, Director of Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign organisation, Jonathan Obuebite, reckoned that the election was won and lost going by what he regarded as “overwhelming support and voting trend in favour of PDP” by the electorate in the state.

    Stressing that Dickson won with valid votes cast, Obuebite said the popularity of the PDP and track record of the governor were reasons Bayelsans re-elected him.

    He noted that the result showed that Bayelsa State was a stronghold of the PDP, adding that APC would always find it difficult to win election in the state.

    The spokesman admonished Sylva and the APC to team up with Dickson to develop the state instead of going to court over what he described as an “effort in futility”.

    Obuebite stated that despite what his supporters might say, the APC candidate did not “seemingly feel really bad” about the outcome of the election.

    He claimed that Sylva went out with friends after the results were declared.

    This, he said, did not suggest he was “terribly affected”, adding that his action suggested instead that he was not expecting to win.

  • Fear of violence as Dickson, Sylva engage in final battle

    Fear of violence as Dickson, Sylva engage in final battle

    State yesterday as voters in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and over 101 polling units across six local government areas prepare for today’s supplementary governorship election.

    The election is being contested by Chief Timipre Sylva and Governor Seriake Dickson, the candidates of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) respectively.

    Since it started on December 5, the election has been a two-horse race between Dickson and Sylva.

    The December 5 governorship poll in the state was declared inconclusive with supplementary election fixed for today after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) controversially cancelled the results of the election in Southern Ijaw.

    Our correspondent observed that Southern Ijaw has been soaked in tension in the build-up to the rerun. Hired militants and thugs were believed to have laid siege to the council preparing to violently deliver it to their candidates.

    Some of the thugs, who were allegedly brought into the council from neighboring states of Delta and Rivers, were said to have clashed with indigenes of some Southern Ijaw communities.

    It was gathered that youths loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) caught one of the youths in Peremabiri, who reportedly confessed he was hired by the PDP.

    A source in Peremabiri, who spoke in confidence, said there was tension in the area and other parts of the council.

    “There is tension everywhere. In fact, we don’t know what the outcome of the election will be. There are signs that it will be marred by violence”, he said.

    It was, however, gathered that the council was surrounded by gunboats of the Operation Safe Conduct (OSC), a special military outfit drafted to monitor the poll, the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    Following threats of violence, the NSCDC directed its operatives and officers to provide maximum security around all the oil installations in the state.

    The corps also deployed 1500 personnel to assist other security agencies in ensuring a hitch-free election.

    While deploying the operatives, the state Commandant, NSCDC, Mr. Desmond Agu, warned those that were sent to protect public facilities against the temptation of leaving such installations to run after politicians.

    Agu said the Commandant-General had ordered that any NSCDC operative found culpable of compromising the rules of engagement should be dismissed from service.

    He said the officers and men of the command were deployed to provide security to critical public installations during the poll.

    He named such installations as facilities of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Oil and Gas Pipeline, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    He said: “On no account should they allow themselves to be used for other activities during this supplementary election in Southern Ijaw and environs as against their primary duties of keeping surveillance and protection over facilities in their custody.

    “Anyone found to have contravened this strict order of the Commandant-General will face a stringent disciplinary action of dismissal from service

    “I am not deploying you to go and die. Don’t attach yourself to any politician. I am commending you for the job you did in the last election because the people said if not for you, things would have got out of hand.”

    The commandant warned the people of the stage against destabilizing their state, insisting that election is not a do-or-die affair.

    Also, the police command said it had beefed up security with increased foot, vehicular, and waterways patrols, as well as intensive aerial surveillance in all nooks and crannies of the state.

    A statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Asinim Butswat, asked all political parties and their contestants to desist from any act capable of disrupting the electoral process.

    The statement said: “The command in collaboration with other security agencies have synergized to create an enabling environment for the forthcoming re-run elections in Southern Ijaw LGA and other affected polling units.

    “VIPs are advised to desist from using security men to escort them to polling units on election date, as any violation to this order will not be tolerated.

    Security agencies have been ordered to enforce the restrictions of movements of boats fitted with two hundred (200) horse power engine and above, and all river craft activities in the state waterways from 7pm to 7am Friday 8th – Sunday 10th January, 2016, respectively.

    “Any person or group of persons who violates this order will be arrested and prosecuted accordingly. Likewise, movement of persons, motor vehicles and tricycles will be restricted on the Election Day in the entire state from the hours of 6am to 6pm. Only those on essential duties will be allowed to move.

    “The voters in the affected areas are advised to come out and exercise their franchise by casting their votes for candidates of their choice.”

  • No militant can save you, governor tells Sylva

    No militant can save you, governor tells Sylva

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) candidate yesterday told his main rival and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, that no militant will save him from defeat in tomorrow’s supplementary elections.

    Dickson urged Sylva to “accept defeat or be ready to be humiliated by the people as no militant can deliver him and the APC”.

    The governor also urged youths’ presidents and Community Development Committee (CDC) chairmen to prove that they were ready for free, fair, credible and violence-free polls.

    In an interactive session with youth leaders and CDC chairmen at the Government House in Yenagoa, Dickson said APC chieftains were jittery because “they do not have grassroots support and this is the right time to prove to the entire world that the APC has no support base”.

    The governor said the people of Southern Ijaw were cheated during the December 5, 2015 polls because they were not allowed to vote.

    He added that the world was waiting to see Bayelsa electorate vote massively for the PDP to prove to Sylva that Southern Ijaw Local Government Area was PDP’s stronghold.

    He said: “We believe in free and fair elections, but the APC cannot come to your villages to decide for you the right to vote for who you want. They know that you have decided from unit to ward and to community. We are going to defeat them fair and square.

    “If APC gets one lawful vote, PDP will get one thousand votes. In Peremabiri, in broad daylight, a miscreant, supported by the military, attacked and invaded the community for no just cause. But to intimidate them, ahead of the rescheduled poll…”

  • Sylva: 2016 is opportunity for new beginning in Bayelsa

    Sylva: 2016 is opportunity for new beginning in Bayelsa

    Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate and the state’s former governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, has urged Bayelsans and Nigerians to see the New Year as an opportunity to make a new start in their individual and collective quests for growth.

    Sylva, who spoke in a New Year’s message yesterday, sued for peaceful coexistence among the people and urged them to eschew divisive tendencies.

    In the statement by his media adviser, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, Sylva said: “As we welcome the New Year, we should also embrace the new hopes, new opportunities, and new vistas it opens for us as Bayelsans and Nigerians to stand out and fulfill our personal and collective destinies.

    “Let us sincerely rededicate ourselves to the fond hopes and expectations of our founding fathers and steadfastly endeavour to uplift the welfare, peace, and security of our people. We have a perfect opportunity to reboot and rebuild.

    “We have come a long way as a state and as a country. We have crossed the bridges over many rivers. And it has pleased Mother Nature to keep us together, despite our fault lines. So it behoves us to focus on issues that would sustain and strengthen our togetherness – rather than those that would destroy it.”

    He added:  “The election coming up on Saturday, January 9, 2016, in our state offers us a perfect opportunity to demonstrate our rejection of the politics of clannishness, brigandage, and exclusion. It offers us a great opportunity to change our old ways and move with the time’s progressive philosophy.”

  • Sylva: I’m in Bayelsa governorship race to win

    Sylva: I’m in Bayelsa governorship race to win

    Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Chief Timipre Sylva has said he is in the race to win and not to withdraw.

    The former governor said those fabricating stories about his withdrawal from the suspended governorship election were making futile attempts to save the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate and Governor Seriake Dickson from “sure and imminent defeat”.

    A statement yesterday in Yenagoa, the state capital, by his media adviser, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, urged Dickson to stop dissipating his energy on what it called falsehood, hypocrisy and deceit.

    The statement said: “Dickson should wait for the outcome of the governorship election and try to control his  fear and deceit, which cannot sway any Bayelsan, as the people know better.”

    It added: “The falsehood about Sylva’s withdrawal from the governorship contest, that Dickson had tried to mar with his uncivilised vituperations and open call to violence, is part of the same strategy of deceit and violence, which Dickson and PDP have employed since the beginning of the election process.

    “In lie after lie, which we have roundly exposed, Dickson has shown that he has nothing other than deception to offer the people of Bayelsa in the election. This latest chicanery about Sylva’s withdrawal, as the others before it, will not give Dickson any reprieve from sure and imminent defeat awaiting him.

    “Sylva has no reason to withdraw from the election he is poised to win. In fact, the matter has gone beyond Sylva. The people of Bayelsa State have bonded in a mass movement determined to make a history of Dickson’s maladministration.

    “The issue is now between Dickson and the people, who have resolved to vote him out. Little wonder he resorted to sponsorship of violence during the election, knowing he cannot win a peaceful contest in the state he has misruled for nearly four years.

    “Dickson has achieved a remarkable notoriety for spreading lies about Sylva, using certain political newsletters masquerading as online newspapers and sponsoring ridiculous suits on the election. He has also set up a kangaroo commission of enquiry to try to divert attention from his crimes against Bayelsa people in the last few weeks. These will fail.

    “Sylva is at peace with himself and the Bayelsa people, as they patiently wait for the stilling of the violent storms initiated by Dickson and his co-travellers on the destructive path of political savagery, to take over power on February 14, 2016.”

  • Bayelsa: I am in guber race to win – Sylva

    Bayelsa: I am in guber race to win – Sylva

    The governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, said, on Thursday he was in the governorship race to win and not to withdraw.

    He said persons fabricating stories about his withdrawal from the governorship race were engaging in a failed effort to save their principal, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Seriake Dickson, from “sure and imminent defeat.”

    Sylva, who spoke in Yenagoa on Thursday through his media adviser, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, advised Dickson to stop dissipating energy on falsehood, hypocrisy, and deceit.

    “Dickson should wait for the outcome of the governorship election and try to control his outbursts of fear and deceit, which cannot sway any Bayelsan, as the people already know better,” Buokoribo said.

    He added: “The falsehood about Sylva’s withdrawal from the governorship contest that Dickson had tried to mar with his uncivilised vituperations and open call to violence is part of the same strategy of deceit and violence, which Dickson and PDP have employed since the beginning of the election process.

    “In lie after lie, which we have roundly exposed, Dickson has shown that he has nothing other than deception to offer the people of Bayelsa in the ongoing election. This latest chicanery about Sylva’s withdrawal, like the others before it, will not give Dickson any reprieve from the sure and imminent defeat awaiting him.”