The former Bayelsa State governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, has faulted claims by a group of his former supporters that their decision to leave the APC for the PDP was due to a lack of consultation with them before Sylva left the PDP.
Sylva, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Doifie Ola, said the allegation by the Ex-Bayelsa Government Officials Forum (EBGOF), was ‘spurious and mythical’ because ‘the said members of EBGOF were never members of APC in Bayelsa State – as they even confirmed in their own letter.’
Our attention have been drawn to a “deceptive media campaign claiming that a strange group named Ex-Bayelsa Government Officials Forum (EBGOF), had left Sylva and All Progressives Congress (APC), and declared support for President Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” the statement said.
“The group made spurious and mythical allegations about the former governor’s failure to consult them before moving to APC as their grouse for the seeming about-face.
“Sylva wishes to make it clear that the said members of EBGOF were never members of APC in Bayelsa State – as they even confirmed in their own letter.
“In the APC equation, in particular, and in the politics of Bayelsa State and Nigeria, in general, the group is of no consequence – collectively and severally.
Mr Ola said the group’s reference to Sylva in the letter published by the group ‘was in very poor taste,’ because members of EBGOF had no official link with Sylva since he left office on 27 January 2012.
“It is, therefore, immoral to claim association with him in order to curry favour with whomever they wish,” Ola said.
“As a democrat, Sylva believes it is the right of every individual to decide whom to associate or not to associate with. He is, however, not disturbed by a media blitz around a formal announcement by a few individuals whose political inclinations are common knowledge even since the time he was governor of Bayelsa State.
“Sylva is a politician who believes in principle even in the face of relentless persecution by the government of the day. The APC, which he leads in Bayelsa State, has maintained a consistently increasing followership, despite the antiques and jitters of Abuja and their proxies in the state.
“We know for a fact that huge inducements are at play here and that arrangements have been concluded for a solidarity visit to the mastermind of this so-called disassociation from Sylva.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the APC train is on a steady course in Bayelsa State, and no propaganda can derail it.”
