- Sylva slams court for reinstating sacked APC chair
Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Former Bayelsa State Governor Chief Timipre Sylva and Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development Senator Heineken Lokpobiri have commended members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for a peaceful conduct of the ward congress.
Sylva, speaking during his participation in the ward congress, slammed a Bayelsa State High Court for what it called a controversial judgement reinstating a sacked Chairman of the APC, Chief Tiwei Orunimighe.
Sylva, who spoke in the presence of a five-member Ward Congress Committee from Abuja led by Dr Adebayo Dawodu, said the injunction ordered by the court was procured inappropriately.
According to him the court erred for granting a motion ex parte on a matter that was before the appeals court.
Sylva noted that the detractors of the party thought that reinstating the sacked chairman would create confusion in the APC and hamper the conduct of the ward congress in the South-South state.
The former governor said that by virtue of Article 12 of the APC Constitution, a party chairman has no role to play during the conduct of party congresses.
Sylva noted that the congress went on peacefully, adding that persons who had expected violence in Bayelsa during the exercise were left in disappointment.
“A few days ago, we had all kinds of stories in Bayelsa. There were stories of injunctions flying around, injunctions that didn’t make sense. If you go through that injunction, it was clearly directed at the acting chairman of the APC,” Sylva observed.
“The judge restrained the chairman from acting as a chairman, and that another chairman who had been suspended from the party should act as chairman and preside over the congresses as chairman.
“But our party constitution is very clear. It is not the chairman of our party that conducts congresses. It is the team from Abuja sent by the national headquarters that conducts congresses. If you say a chairman should preside, the party constitution doesn’t give any role to the chairman.
“Article 12 of the APC Constitution is very clear: the APC chairman has no role. If not you will have a situation where the party chairman will be presiding over his own congress. The party foresaw this and already foreclosed this from the beginning.
“It is the team from Abuja that is legally empowered to conduct the congresses. We are here doing something very lawful because we have looked at the legality and otherwise of the process and we found that we are very okay.”
Also speaking, Lokpobiri said the APC was expected to be stronger and more united at the end of the congresses.
He commended the congress committee and members of the party for the peaceful manner they conducted themselves during the congress.
“Everybody thought that Bayelsa was going to be a theatre of crisis, but we are thankful to God that there is no crisis. Going forward as a party we will do every possible to see how we can remain united and receive as many people as will come from a dying PDP. Everybody is feeling the effects of bad governance in this state. So, it is in the strategic interests of everybody, regardless of where you come from, that PDP is booted out. But the first step will we take is to take advantage of the congress to unite our party and to create a new, stronger and more united party”.
Dawodu in his remarks commended the state APC members for their conduct, adding that the exercise was peaceful in all the wards.
The congress coordinator said all disagreements were resolved in a civilized way which he said was a reflection of the change being campaigned for nationwide by the APC.
“We can’t continue in a do-or-die politics. We are into politics of compromise and politics of brotherhood, and I have seen a good example in Bayelsa. I can assure people that we have done due diligence and the right materials had gone to all the 105 wards,” he stated.
