The All Progressives Congress (APC) monday waded into the tussle for the party’s governorship ticket for Bayelsa State with the aim of building a consensus around the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Timi Alaibe, as its candidate.
The party’s leadership therefore summoned all its governorship aspirants in Bayelsa and Kogi States to a meeting in Abuja as part of efforts to boost its chances of victory in the two People Democratic State (PDP)- controlled states.
The consultative meeting with governorship candidates from Bayelsa State is coming ahead of the primary election scheduled for next Saturday, where two prominent aspirants, the former Governor of the state, Chief Timipre Silva, and Alaibe are squaring up for a contest.
The plan to persuade Silva to back Alaibe has met a brick wall as Silva has gone ahead with intense campaign and mobilisation of delegates.
The meeting which was held behind closed door, had in attendance the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun; Deputy National Chairman (South), Olusegun Oni; National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso among other national executives of the party.
Sources at the meeting told journalists that the party leaders would prefer the former NDDC boss, who they believed has better chances of winning the context due to his solid political structure in Bayelsa State since 1999 till date.
The leaders, according to sources, are said to be looking for a strong candidate who could easily defeat the incumbent state governor who has the support of the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, his wife, Patience, as well as some former governors of the state.
Apart from the fact that they feel he cannot win in the state, the leaders also think the former governor is yet to settle with the anti-graft agencies over alleged misappropriation of funds when he was the governor of the state.” the source said.
It was further gathered that the meeting was called following complaints by some of the aspirants that one of them, who is a former governor in the state, had assembled all the delegates in one of the hotels in Omokwu area of Rivers State, out of their reach ahead the primaries.
The 19 APC governorship aspirants attended the yesterday’s meeting held at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, including Silva.
It was also learnt that the meeting with the Kogi State party leaders and aspirants was in response to the anticipated move by the PDP to try to spring surprise today in its choice of governorship candidate.
Sources said the party was apprehensive that PDP might want to play the divisive card by using a candidate from the areas campaigning for power rotation, thus the need to rally all its aspirants to work with its candidate, Audu Abubakar.
On the contest for the Bayelsa State governorship race, a founding member of the party in the state, Perekeme Kpodo, cautioned against fielding Sylva, as standard bearer of the APC in the December 5 governorship election.
Kpodo told journalists in an interview that the idea of arm-twisting delegates to vote for a particular aspirant had affected the party’s chances of a credible primary election in the state.
According to him, “If Sylva is given the ticket of the APC, the APC will scatter and it will lose woefully. That is exactly what the opposition is praying for.
“But if we bring any other credible candidate in the APC, there will be a serious fight. It is a battle. To win an incumbent, you know what it means and not a person like Sylva.”
However, one of the aspirants, a cleric, Mrs. Tonye Apraela, has dismissed the claim that the party has endorsed any aspirant contrary to speculations in some quarters.
She said: “Nobody has endorsed anybody. It is his followers who endorsed him. I wanted to make that correction, but thank God I have the privilege now. The APC has not endorsed anybody, so, nobody should be afraid in the state, because we are all going out for the primaries.”
Meanwhile, the national leadership of the APC yesterday lifted suspension purportedly placed on some members of the party and order by the state chairman.
A statement issued by the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, affirmed that the Bayelsa State delegates list to be used for the governorship primaries was intact, saying the action of the party was neceesitated in order have a conducive atmosphere for the primaries.
Oyegun said the delegates list in his custody at headquarters, thus debunking the rumours that is being tampered with.
The statement signed by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Comrade Timi Frank in Abuja, said the party leadership had summoned a meeting with all the aspirants settle a rift between them and the Bayelsa state executive of the party.
Oyegun said, following reports of threat and intimidation of members of our great party in Bayelsa state in view of the party governorship primaries scheduled for September 19, 2015, and a meeting by the national leadership of the party with the 19 aspirants under the platform of the party in Abuja today.
After carefully listerning to their complain against the state executive, the National Working Committee has decided to affirm the existing delegates list to be used for the primaries, to annul any suspension whatsoever placed on any member of the party in the state and to direct the APC party executive at all levels to maintain strict neutrality before and during the primaries process.
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