A group of elders, under the aegis of Bayelsa Peoples Consultative Assembly (BPCA), has said that former governor of the state and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, will not run in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Spokesman for BPCA, Alex Ekiotenne, disclosed this at a press conference in Yenagoa on Tuesday.
He said he got the hint during a recent meeting held with Sylva and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC.
Speculations have been rife in Bayelsa that Sylva, who defected to the APC after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) denied him a second term ticket, would contest the next governorship election on the platform of the APC.
Ekiotenne said members of BPCA, who before now were supporters of Governor Seriake Dickson, had indicated their interest to declare for the APC, stressing that they had found the party as the best platform to enthrone good governance in the state.
According to him, the group would very soon organise a summit in Yenagoa, where they would formally defect alongside like minds to the APC.
“The BPCA ad hoc committee, in fulfilment and in furtherance of the mandate given to it at its general assembly meeting, embarked on further consultations with Sylva and the National Working Committee of the APC, led by Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
“It is worthy to mention two important developments in the course of that round of consultations: The NWC of APC gave its blessing to the holding of a grand rally for the declaration of all prominent new members and their teeming supporters into the APC fold.
“The leader of the APC in Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva, clearly reiterated his resolve to stay out of the governorship contest to create a level playing field for the emergence of a credible candidate of choice for the APC in the forthcoming election,” he said.
Ekiotenne, who used the opportunity to disengage from his appointment by Dickson as Honorary Special Adviser and member, Board of Directors, Bayelsa Oil Palm Limited, said the governor had failed the Bayelsa people.
He alleged that lack of strategic planning, prioritisation and a result-oriented advisory system had hampered productivity and sustained performance in Dickson’s administration.
The BCPA spokesman said the APC was the party to beat in the coming governorship election, adding that the Dickson-led government had squandered its political capital and the psyche of the PDP had broken down irretrievably, particularly with the suspension and expulsion of its leading figures
