Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Minister of State for Petroleum and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, has said that the outcome of the governorship primary election which produced Chief David Lyon was a signal that the party was poised to win the November 16 governorship election.
Sylva a former governor of the state while reacting to the outcome of the primary election said with Lyon as the candidate of the party, APC would win the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election.
He commended members of the party for the peaceful manner they conducted themselves which showed the readiness of the party to win the governorship election in November.
“APC is the only hope for Bayelsa, having witnessed years of suffering through the misrule in the state. Yes, we are going to win, come Nov. 16; APC will give new hope to our people. That shows the readiness of APC to win Bayelsa State and I believe our candidate will be better than whoever the other parties will present.”
Meanwhile, another governorship aspirant, Mr Preye Aganaba, has rejected the declaration of Lyon as the flag bearer of the party, describing his emergence as a mockery of democracy.
Aganaba in a statement he signed said Lyon’s emergence was a political hoax which lacked any semblance of credibility as the results were allegedly written in a hotel room.
While recalling decisions reached at the stakeholders meeting aspirants had with the electoral committee headed by the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni where it was agreed that the names of returning officers should be published at ward levels, result sheets should be available in the various local government areas and that tags should be provided for the eight local government agents and 105 ward agents, he expressed disappointment that none was carried out and efforts to reach Buni and Secretary of the committee were futile as their phones were switched off.
Aganaba called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to distance itself from the election and reject the result and appealed to the National Working Committee (NWC) to review the election, warning that if he party failed to act, the declaration would be challenged in a law court.
He said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should distance itself from this scam and reject the result completely. This sham with fake results written in hotel rooms cannot stand. The collation officer is not the chairman of the election committee to declare a winner. This rape on democracy will be contested in a competent court of law, if the party fails to look into our appeal. True progressives and lovers of a free, fair, credible process should be reassured that appropriate steps are being taken to seek redress.”