Former governor of Bayelsa state, Chief Timipre Sylva has reacted to claims by Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state that he truncated the electoral process during the All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship primaries.

According to him, the claims by the Edo state governor, who headed the APC Electoral Committee, were a deliberate “act of mischief” and “lies”, Vanguard reports.

The Bayelsa state APC guber primary election which held on Tuesday, September 22, had produced Sylva as the winner and the party’s flag bearer in the poll slated for December 5.

Governor Oshiomhole had however described his victory as a “huge joke,” saying Sylva was not declared winner of the primaries.

Sylva, in a statement issued through his media adviser, Doifie Bukoribo on Wednesday night, said the election which produced him as winner was free, fair and without violence.

He stated that it was very clear Oshiomhole never wanted to conduct the primaries as scheduled, judging from the manner in which he conducted himself during the primaries.

The former governor listed seven things Oshiomhole did wrong.

The statement read: “First, on his request, the primary was shifted from its earlier date of Saturday, September 19 to the Tuesday, September 22 date. The grouse of the delegates was that the primaries had been shifted once on Oshiomhole’s request. That shift caused enough hardship already. The ‘comrade’ was again shifting the goal post, without giving consideration to these hapless delegates. It was that frustration that we were managing. It is so sad that the governor did not appreciate our effort.

“Second, as chairman of the APC Electoral Committee, Oshiomhole knew full well that accreditation of delegates was to begin at 8am on Tuesday, September 22, but he came to the venue of the programme well past 12 noon. After he arrived at that late hour, he proceeded with a meeting with the committee members and another meeting with the aspirants. He clearly had preconceived plans about the Bayelsa APC governorship primary.”

Thirdly, Sylva said Oshiomhole set the process in motion for voting to commence and then excused himself on the grounds that he was going to eat, mandating the other six members of the electoral committee to carry on without him.

The other six were the ones who conducted the primary and declared Sylva winner of the exercise.

Fourthly, the former governor said it was pettiness for the Edo state governor to quote him as antagonist to new entrants to the APC. “After all, I was the one that received all new entrants. Oshiomole was invited and he did not come,” he added.

Sylva explained that Oshiomhole came to Yenagoa with a clear agenda, which was to get him out of the race at all cost.

According to him, shortly before his arrival, one of the aspirants had boasted openly that Oshiomhole would cancel the primary once he arrived.

He also dismissed claims by Oshiomhole that he hired thugs to manhandle him.

“Seventh, if Oshiomhole has anything personal against me, let him tell the world. We are shocked that the man who claims to be morally upright with a strong ethical orientation would land in Yenagoa for an exercise in which he ought to be an impartial arbiter with a helicopter provided by a friend of one of the aspirants,” Sylva said.

Report has it that the primaries had been marred by violence when thugs disrupted the electoral process by throwing stones at delegates of the party who were already lined up for screening, creating chaos and panic at the venue.

Timi Alaibe, one of the contestants had called for a postponement of the primary to enable all delegates to participate in the exercise and asked his supporters to leave.

source: https://www.naij.com/563205-bayelsa-apc-governorship-candidate-lists-7-sins-gov-oshiomhole.html

Issokay

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