₦airaland Forum

matter is court, and the court wont do or say anytin, the court has been silent over this bayelsa issue,
everyone is waiting for the court .sylva "i believe in the rule of law" pdp , matter is in court, so whereis the court ,

umm, that na politics, abi,

The race for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for the 2012 governorship election in Bayelsa State gets keener by the day. In the last few days, the calculations have swung like a pendulum following the entry of the immediate past Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Ndutimi Alaibe, into the race.

Alaibe had a few days ago made a dramatic return to the PDP, which he dumped for the Labour Party (LP) prior to the April 2011 election before an Appeal Court ruled that the tenure of Governor Timipre Sylva and four of his other colleagues had not expired. Now, Alaibe is expecting a waiver from the PDP to be able to slug it out with a Reps member, Hon. Seriake Dickson, and the incumbent governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, for the sole ticket at next month’s primary election.

But Governor Timipre Sylva appears unshaken by the cacophony of voices over the ticket and he did not mince words when he spoke exclusively to Sunday Sun in his Abuja delectable home on Thursday afternoon. Exuding confidence, the towering, man-of-style Bayelsa chief executive believes it is a no-contest even before the ballot is held. He dubbed his opponents as noisemakers, who prefer to dance on the pages of newspapers and unfairly dropping the name of President Goodluck Jonathan just to grab attention. Excerpts…

Sometimes this year, one of the commissioners told me in an interview that Bayelsa is a difficult state to govern. As the man at the helm of affairs, how difficult is it to rule Bayelsa?
I would not say that Bayelsa is particularly difficult to govern. Rather I would say, like everywhere else, it is difficult to govern any people. Being in that position means you are at the apex of the triangle and everybody is looking up to you. As men we are all not perfect. And when everybody is looking at you from every angle, they will see the imperfections that they will talk about. When that happens, people mistake it for being difficult. But anywhere you are, as long as it is a position of responsibility and you are governing people, you should expect that.

On the other hand, as far as I’m concerned, Bayelsans are very good people and very industrious. Of course, they expect so much. The only problem is that sometimes you expect too much compared with the time and resources that are available. That happens and there is some incongruence. Apart from that, Bayelsans are very good people and very industrious.

Definitely, you have challenges. So, what are some of the peculiar ones?
When I came into office, one of the things that confronted us was the mistrust between the government and the governed. This is also not peculiar to Bayelsa as everywhere that is what confronts society. So, we had that problem, which we have been trying to bridge. But no matter what I think as a governor, if the people do not share in my vision then it would be stillborn. I need their industry, tenacity and resilience to focus on actualising the vision. That is why it is important for that to happen and we have been working on it. That is the first challenge.

The second challenge is the terrain. Bayelsa terrain is not an easy one. It is actually the Netherlands of Nigeria, literally speaking. Everywhere else you can take land for granted. But you can’t do that in Bayelsa. Before you build a house you have to create the land on which to build, and the cost of doing that is so enormous. These are some of the challenges and we are still trying to surmount them.

Four years in the saddle, have you met some of the targets you set for yourself as governor?
As I sit here with you, I’m very happy and satisfied that we have been able to meet some of the targets we set for ourselves as a government. Those we have not been able to meet, we can say we are clearly on course toward achieving them. For instance, the water supply system in Bayelsa is coming together. We have been able to reticulate water to most parts of Yenagoa. We have built regional water schemes in parts of the state to supply a lot of the communities. I’m very satisfied with what we have done. On electricity, I’m also satisfied. By Christmas this year, Bayelsans will be happy because there will be uninterrupted supply.

In terms of other infrastructure, a road network has been created in the state and a vibrant transportation system put in place. On housing, we have taken off. We have been able to crack the housing challenge. Today we are building houses we can deliver to Bayelsans at four million naira per flat, which to me is very reasonable.

How many units?
We are looking at 5,000 housing units to be delivered within the second quarter of next year.

But the same cannot be said of the fish farming and the Peremabiri rice projects that have not taken off. What happened to these projects?
Thank you. Actually, we had some issues with the fish farming project. You see, in Nigeria we have never looked at agriculture from a purely commercial point of view. If we look at agriculture as a social service, which is what we have been doing, it will never work. That is why it always fails because as a social service it becomes unviable. So, we try to look at agriculture from a more commercial point of view and we wanted to get funding for agriculture other than the usual government budgeting. But we could not access good funds and our funding situation had some issues at some point.

Now we have surmounted that situation and we have set up vehicles that are taking off on the vision that we have for agriculture. I’m very confident today because we have been able to access about N10 billion from the agricultural fund that was put in place by the federal government because they saw that we had a very workable programme. We have put in place very solid management for those companies and you would soon hear from us on the agricultural fund. On the Peremabiri rice project, we had partnership with a foreign group, T4M. While we fulfilled all our part, T4M, for some reasons, could not bring its own funding.

So, we were forced to change the strategy. We have also been able to access money from the federal government and we are going ahead ourselves but with the foreign partners as technical assistants. It is no longer a partnership. Before, we were to donate land and provide some facilities while they were to bring funds and invest. We waited for them and all this while they have not been able to provide the funding. So we decided to change that partnership to technical assistance, and we have already accessed some fund. I can assure you that the Peremabiri rice project will take off very soon.

In recent weeks, Bayelsa has consistently been in the news following some developments ahead the 2012 governorship election in the state. How prepared are you for the election?
I’m very prepared. But I’m not surprised that all these are happening in Bayelsa. Naturally, when it comes to politics you should expect that there would be contenders. The contenders will play and at the end of the day the best man wins. I have never been an advocate of violence; I have always been a peaceful man. I have always been a believer in our creator. So I believe that even in this case, the Lord will see us through and I will be victorious in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you think there is a plot to stop you from picking the PDP ticket or to scuttle your re-election bid?
It is all part of the game. People will throw up all kinds of stories. There are all kinds of stories that they are trying to stop me from picking the ticket but I have not seen any such plot. I’m moving and I remain the man to beat in the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party). I’m happy when I see all kinds of coalitions forming because of me. What it tells me is that I’m so strong that they need to form coalitions to fight me. It is also a good feeling that I’m not being taken for granted.

In the eyes of the public, there is a formidable opposition galvanised against you by elected persons and political appointees from the state based in Abuja
That is not particularly correct. Seven out of the eight elected members of the National Assembly from Bayelsa are supporting me. If you were here yesterday, you would have seen what I mean. I know that the Minister of Petroleum is also supporting me. She is one of the well-placed Bayelsans. I’m also aware that the President himself is supporting me. So, I don’t know who else is left in Abuja that is not supporting me.

I hear all kinds of stories. If (Seriake) Dickson cannot even get the support of his fellow colleagues in the National Assembly, what does that tell you? Three of the Senators and four out of the five Rep members are with me. It is only Dickson that is not with me. He just rents crowd and makes noise. As far as I’m concerned, I have not seen any opposition. In any case, the opposition should now move to Bayelsa and let us canvass our visions. Let us tell our people what we have for them. It is not just sitting here (in Abuja) and threatening brimstone and fire. Let us go to the people of Bayelsa, who we wish to serve, to canvass our position. I believe the best person would win.

Dickson himself once went round with me to see some of the projects I have been able to deliver to the Bayelsa people. And he expressed surprise at what I have achieved. I remember his words: “Where are you getting all the money to do these?” Really, what I expect Dickson to say is what he would add to what I’m doing. But I’m yet to see what he would add to what I’m doing.

In other words, you do not even consider him as a threat?
Seriously speaking, he has a right as a Bayelsan to aspire. But as far as I’m concerned I do not see his aspiration as a threat. I believe that he is aspiring because afterwards he still had a job he could fall back to. If he didn’t have a job or if he had another job that he had to lose, I’m sure Dickson would not aspire.

What is your relationship with the number one citizen of this country, who happens to be a Bayelsan? The speculation in the media is that President Goodluck Jonathan is backing your opponents in the contest for the PDP governorship ticket…
(Cuts in) But has President Jonathan said he is backing any person? He hasn’t said so In that case, I’m also saying that he is backing me. That is what I’m telling you. Why won’t you believe me if I say he is backing me? I was with the President yesterday (Wednesday). So, I should be able to say he is backing me too. Normally you would expect people to say this.

But if President Jonathan is backing you, should you be screaming on the pages of newspapers that he backing you? It is not necessary. We should see a reaction from President Jonathan. Of course, he is the number citizen of Nigeria and not President of Bayelsa. What I try to do is not to drag him into Bayelsa issues too much.
Those trying to drag him into these issues are not fair to him because they are belittling the Presidency. He is President of 36 states plus Abuja. So if something is happening, it does not matter if President Jonathan is from that state. We should try to keep him away and shield him from what is happening in Bayelsa. That is what I expect every patriotic person to do. But they try to drag him into the arena. As far as I’m concerned, it is unfair to the President and I think that is what the media should tell those people. Today, one person says he is supporting me, and tomorrow another person says I’m the one he is supporting. It cannot be like that! Yet the President has not said anything.

The media should discountenance those stories. Let them not talk about whether the President is supporting them or not. That is not the issue for now. You want to be governor. Then tell the people of Bayelsa what you want to do for the development of the state and how you can improve their lives. That is what they want to hear. You cannot go around without a vision because the President is supporting you and go to Bayelsa to win. First, you must have a vision that is actualisable.
Of course, some of them can have utopian vision. In this case, in terms of government, this is the reality. Your vision must be
realisable and related to the funding available to you, the terrain and the people. So, you don’t just sit somewhere and dream up
something. You must have a dream that the people can see is realisable, for instance, in Bayelsa.

Sometime ago, you attempted to mend fences with some of these politicians. Now it appears there is a thaw again in the relationship. At what point did this occur and why?
My brother, that is what I would ask you. I have bent over backwards to the point that my head is now touching the ground. At some point I began to wonder, where did I go wrong? I have done everything to bring everybody together. And at that point, I thought we were back together as one. Which tells me that it is not about what I do for them. Rather it is about my job.

So even if I give them the most valuable thing in my life, they would still go for my job. I have done every single thing you can think of in this world to try to woo them and bring the house together. Today I’m even very frightened because some of the things we did together, eating and drinking together, if I knew they had all these reservations, probably I would have been a little cautious. But, seriously, I have done everything to see how we can bring the house together, to prove to them that I’m a team player. Unfortunately, it has not worked with some of them.

One of the accusations against you is that you have not managed the funds of Bayelsa very well. How would you respond to that?
When people just sit there and say I have not managed the funds of Bayelsa very well, then I don’t see it as worthy of my reply. Have they done an audit? As a state government, we have done very, very well. I think it is because I have managed the resources much better; maybe that is what is worrying them. What have I not done that they expect me to do? I think it has to do with the fact that some people expected me to share money and I refused. Some of them accuse me of not carrying them along.

I don’t know what that means. I have built roads, provided electricity, water, schools, libraries and hospitals that are some of
the best in Nigeria. What else do they expect me to do? The only thing I have probably not done is that I have not brought money to share on the streets of Bayelsa, which is not possible for me to do. If I did that, I would not be able to deliver on infrastructure. They are the same people that would forget that I gave them the money and they would still abuse me. So I decided that I would build infrastructure. I can assure you that if you go to Bayelsa today, you would be happy with what you would see. But, of course, the people who want to take my job would never be satisfied. You would not expect them to say anything good about me.

What gives me joy today is that the opposition, which is the same people, has dwindled. It is not like before. Now it is Dickson vs (Timi) Alaibe. Today they have split. But they were together. So I’m happy with it. I can see there is a lot of improvement. A lot of those that were with them are now with me. They have dwindled and I have increased. So I see no problem at all.

Are you confident that you would get the ticket?
I’m very confident that I will get the ticket and I’m telling my opponents let us play by the rules. Let us give peace a chance because we cannot kill Bayelsans before we rule them. There will be nobody to rule if we kill all Bayelsans. So I’m asking my opponents that we should play by the rules and let us give peace a chance. We have worked very hard to bring peace to Bayelsa and we hope nobody would try to destabilise it.

Recently, the Inspector-General of Police disbanded the state security outfit, Operation Famou Tangbei, and there has been so much hoopla over the action. Were you consulted before it was disbanded?
Well, we had been discussing it but it was not necessarily my outfit. It was more or less an outfit of the Nigeria police. It was like the Operation Sweep or Operation Flush of the police. In Bayelsa, we only decided to use an indigenous Ijaw name for the outfit so that it would evoke something in the minds of the people. Famou Tangbei means sweep and throw away, literally speaking. Operation Famou Tangbei had nothing to do with me as a person. It was under the Commissioner of Police.

The only thing is that it was discussed in a security council meeting because of the increase in crime in Bayelsa at the tine. That was after the era of militancy when most of the persons that came out of the creeks were now on land with us and we saw a few armed robbery and some criminal activities in Yenagoa. So we had to respond to it. In the security council it was agreed that the police should set up an anti-robbery squad. So instead of calling it an anti-robbery squad, we decided to call it Operation Famou Tangbei. It had nothing to do with me. And because it is an outfit of the police, the IG and the Commissioner of Police discussed it.

Even now it has not been disbanded; it is erroneous. All the IG said was that there were reports of recklessness by operatives of Operation Famou Tangbei and he needed to react to those reports. What he said was that they have to reorganise it and this is normal in any law enforcement situation.

Were some of these reports verifiable because there were allegations that the outfit was involved in extra-judicial killings and that it was used to intimidate your opponents?
It is not true. I had nothing to do with Operation Famou Tangbei. They even said I had a place in Government House where we were burying bodies. I mean, it is very sad for me because if you know what I stand for, those kind of stories should not be associated with me. It is unfortunate that this is the nature of this business. It is normal that Operation Famou Tangbei would mount roadblock and they could stop the vehicle of an opposition party member. Each time we heard such stories about Operation Famou Tangbei, we invited them to our security council meeting and we found out that there was nothing.

You see, when they want to hang a dog, they call it a bad name. They take all kinds of outrageous pictures, maybe from the Internet, and attach them to their petitions. Why is it that Bayelsans are now calling back for it if it was that bad? They are the ones clamouring for Operation Famou Tangbei to be brought back. Bayelsans did not jubilate because they see that it has been doing a very good job. So they have been putting out all kinds of stories out there because they wanted to do evil. They wanted to remove Operation Famou Tangbei so they can do their havoc. I tell them that I don’t need it as a person to secure myself. So let them tell us what other way of law enforcement apart from the Nigeria police.

At the last Boro Day celebrations in New Jersey in July, I was there when you pledged $500,000 to kick-start the Diaspora Ijaw Technical Aid Corps. Has the scheme taken off yet? I have just been told that the DITAC team arrived Bayelsa yesterday (Wednesday). When I returned to Nigeria, the fund was made available, but we also felt that we would not send it when the structure was not clear. Now they are ready and they have sent a team. I have been reliably informed that the team is here but I’m yet to meet with them.
When I meet with them I would then release the fund I pledged to the scheme. As for the infrastructure that I also promised like the Izonware, that is almost 95 per cent ready. So they don’t have any problem where to operate. Any time from now, I would invite somebody to come and commission it.

Now let’s look at the Sovereign Wealth Fund established by the federal government. What is the grouse of the governors over the fund given that there were complaints that the Excess Crude Account was unconstitutional?
The SWF is definitely desirable. I don’t think any governor would say it is not necessary. The country needs that kind of fund to, at least, act as a buffer. But what the governors are saying is that if the federal government wants to set up a fund like that, it ought to do so with its own funds. And if it has to take monies from the states, then the states must buy in after legislating on it in our various states.

It has to be captured in our system so that every state can then consciously contribute into the Sovereign Wealth Fund. Some governors feel that in a federal system the states are fairly independent. That means they too can actually have their own funds as savings. So why don’t the states have their funds saved instead of the federal government doing it on their behalf? These are some of the issues. But in taking decisions like this, there is need to build consensus and I think that would happen soon.

On a lighter note, looking at you, somebody would admire your sense of style and how fit and trim you look. How are you able to keep your shape?
(Laughs heartily)…For me, I really should be fitter and trimmer as I do work out a bit and I’m very careful about what I eat. The quantity is also important because we tend to eat too much. That is all I do and above all, I try to take care of myself.

Given your towering figure, were you a sports man in school?
Yes, I did some basketballing, some goalkeeping and athletics. But that was a long time ago. Now I’m confined to the gym.

ok, lets see whr this ends, pdp or sylva, but wait wats the court doin abt it,
i heard their still silent , our juduciary,

By Kunle Akogun, Ahamefula Ogbu and Onwuka Nzeshi

President Goodluck Jonathan Thursday subtly defended his decision to leave out fuel subsidy from the 2012 budget, painting a graphic picture of how the country has been borrowing to fund capital projects when the money spent on subsidy alone would have sufficed instead.

But the House of Represen-tatives has demanded that subsidy must be returned to the budget.
In the Senate, members were unanimous in condemning the provision of N922 billion for security in the 2012 budget – a position the House also agrees with, arguing that the vote was bloated and lopsided against some key sectors such as power, education and agriculture, even when Nigeria was not at war.

Jonathan said government borrowed the entire capital budget was N1.146 trillion this year, whereas it has paid over N1.2 trillion for fuel subsidy alone. "This year with the present budget, we are paying back the part of the money we borrowed but what is in the budget is only N560 billion, just about half of the money we borrowed. Who will pay the balance and when, with interest? There is no way we can continue to run the economy this way,” he said.

He said he did not intend to take decisions that would create pains for Nigerians but insisted that he had to do it for the people to start enjoying life instead of continuing in the window-dressing that stalls growth and development. Jonathan was speaking yesterday night at the 2011 Christmas Carol Service at the at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said: "I would not have loved to mention the issue of deregulation but it is a very topical issue. Sometimes it even comes in our religious houses. I would plead with religious leaders, both Christians and Muslims, to join government to see how we can improve the economy of this country. Demand for everything is increasing. During the civil war how many cars did we have? How many roads did we have? The demand for everything has expanded over the period. So we have more challenges and we believe that with the present situation, for quite some years, government has been borrowing money to run its affairs and the amount we borrowed continues to increase. Who are we borrowing these monies for? Who will come and pay the debt? I normally ask."

Jonathan warned that unless the economy was diversified and aggressive agriculture and industrialisation pursued, the oil reserve of the country might be depleted within the next 35 to 40 years which would mean enslaving the future generations. He asked what life would be like without oil if the country that has oil still borrows to fund its operations.

"Government must look for ways to expand the economy. We must look for other ways of earning money. We must go back to farming and not just subsistence farming that we know but really taking farming as a business… we must create wealth through farming… we must industrialise… we must begin to produce things in this country and we need the subsidy to do that and especially with the number of people graduating from the universities every year. How do we create jobs for them? And I believe we cannot continue to borrow. In fact last year our capital budget was N1.146 trillion and we borrowed the whole capital budget and even a little more.

" There is no way we can continue to run the economy this way. We find it difficult to do things that appear not to be popular and I know that one of the things that worry us is the fear of the unknown. If there is subsidy, what will life be? Yes, we know there will be a little pain because we know ourselves. Nigerians sometimes exploit opportunities.

“Ordinarily the pains would have been minimal in the sense that as we are talking now diesel is deregulated since Obasanjo time and nobody is going to touch [the price of] diesel and most of the vehicles we use [for goods transportation] use diesel. Ordinarily, transport cost for any vehicle that use diesel is not supposed to change but Nigerians being what they are at the beginning will try to be funny. We must encourage use of gas and all that and use of vehicles that have fuel efficiency," Jonathan said.

He likened the beginning of new experiences to the fear of the unknown, pointing at the experience of the GSM revolution in Nigeria where, he said, "they were even hoarding the SIM cards [when operations started]. To buy a SIM card at a time you had to do funny things because people were desperate but now the companies give you SIM card with [pre-loaded] credit on it just to hook up to their line. I tell Nigerians that we are very hopeful and so nobody should fear".
He said no government would intentionally inflict pains on his people and distanced himself from such actions and decisions but asked for the support of Nigerians to get the country running well again.

"The pains will be temporary; after few weeks or few months, Nigerians will be better off. The economy will be repositioned. We must aggressively pursue agriculture, we must aggressively pursue industrialisation for jobs to be created in the economy," he explained.
But earlier yesterday, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Zakary Mohammed (PDP/ Kwara), said fuel subsidy must be provided for in the budget.

“We have taken a decision that we do not want subsidy taken out of the budget so definitely subsidy has to be in the budget. The House of Representatives still stands on that fact that we are not voting for subsidy removal because there are key indicators and conditions that we have set before subsidy can be removed. One of them is that our refineries must be fixed to refine products and reduce our dependence on imported fuel,” he stated.

Mohammed said Nigerians and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) should not entertain any fears about the alleged secret removal of subsidy because the parliament was poised to dissect the budget document to identify the grey areas in it and amend them before its passage into law. He said though the budget was presented very late in the year, it would be wrong to write off the entire document as a disaster until its contents have been fully assessed on sector by sector basis.

“The budget has been laid before the House but we would not take it hook line and sinker. We would look at each of these sectors according to their merit and we think that defence (security) should not take as much as that (N921.91billion), almost a trillion. We believe it is on the high side.

“We can take out some funds from the defence allocation and take it to areas like power sector which has a potential of impacting positively on the rate of unemployment in the country. If our industries are moribund and some are trying to move out of Nigeria because of the power situation, they will definitely come back and a lot of our population would be employed. “For NLC to describe the entire budget document as a disaster may not be right. We might have our areas of disagreement but we have to look at it from all perspectives to really understand its content.

Even though it came late, it is incumbent on us to do our own lawful functions on that budget. We are definitely going to dissect every part of that budget and take money from where we think are overloaded to other areas where we think can be a boost to the economy. Our economy is fragile and like the case of a patient in an emergency ward that needs all the support of experts,” he said. Senators yesterday also began the consideration of the bill, with many of them venting their spleen on some aspects of the budget presented to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday by President Goodluck Jonathan.

In their various comments on the general principle of the 2012 Appropriation Bill yesterday, the lawmakers were unanimous in their condemnation of the N921.91 billion allocated to security, as well as the preponderance of recurrent over capital expenditure.

According to the senators, the problem of insecurity in the country is largely caused by youth unemployment, which could be a thing of the past if priority attention is given to agriculture, which could mop up the unemployment market. But the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had, while giving a breakdown of the budget on Wednesday, disclosed that the security vote was meant for Defence, Police Affairs and Police Formations, National Security Adviser and Ministry of Interior.

There was however a general agreement that some of the proposals in the Appropriation Bill are laudable and, if well implemented, could restore hope to the country. The attack on the security vote was led by Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (ACN, Ekiti North) who noted that the sectoral allocations were not reflective of what the country needed especially as it related to huge security vote.

Adetunmbi faulted the allocation to the security sector which he said was four times what is given to health. “What is going into the security is six times what we are spending for power. The prioritisation of our spending is not reflective of what is happening in our economy. If we spend more on agriculture, which can provide jobs, we won’t worry about security,” he said.

The lawmaker complained that the budget was silent on safety nets to cushion the effect of the transformation Nigerians expected.
He described 35 ministries and over 800 parastatals as a huge drain on the economy. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu said the budget, if well implemented, would restore hope in the nation.

Ekweremadu urged the Senate “to do something” about late presentation of the budget as well as open up the process of budgeting. He argued that the processes leading to the drawing of the budget estimates were shrouded in secrecy.

well it notin new sha, the other time its aregbesola entourage, in same kogi state,
now bayelsa protesters, haba, lord knows wat the country is turning into self,

well, sylva shd just let the court decide,

ha. e no easy sha. It is easy for babes to 4give

It is cheap!

Nah

he is a great person

Self employment of course!!! Any day any time.

Because he is a dictator

Ota Farmer abeg go rest

Great

Cannot be true!

lol

Yes sir!Not an easy job sha

Today bah?

Another one? Bigger than Winners Chapel

Hmmm

Na wa ooo

Check the national library for details.

Sad. pele. Go and beg him.

Go to a gd hospital.

Yes. What about it?

Only 3 yrs?

It is a thing of the heart,

Illegality of PDP’s Disqualification of Timipre Sylva

In recent weeks, the Nigerian nation‑space has been beleaguered by brazen intrigues and a suffocating obsession of a section of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with the eerie connivance and covert encouragement and inducement of the Presidency)

with what was, hitherto, a hidden agenda behind the breakneck speed with which the anti-Sylva faction wants to prevent incumbent Governor Timipre Sylva from contesting the Bayelsa State gubernatorial elections on the platform of the PDP.

Following a gale of unconfirmed reports on President Goodluck Jonathan's alleged surreptitious bid to remove Gov. Sylva from office, Nigerian at home and in the diaspora expressed horror about the incredible rumors that the President of Nigeria should make himself a party to, or allow his high office to be associated with, such dishonorable manipulations and subversions of the Electoral Act and the Nigerian constitution which, by his oath of office, he solemnly swore to preserve, protect and defend.

Jonathan’s role in the unfolding Bayelsa gubernatorial election saga is nothing but shameless. Enjoined by his oath of office to uphold the laws of the land, Jonathan is expected to hold the scale even between the contending political forces and interests within his own party. That he has decided to abuse that role by picking a cheap quarrel with Governor Sylva, smacks of a betrayal of trust and shows the extent to which even the PDP constitution has been subverted.

After petitioning the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop the primaries scheduled for next Saturday, November 19, 2011, Sylva filed a motion ex parte against the PDP in the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking injunctive reliefs. As at the last instance, Justice G.O. Kolawole fixed Tuesday, November 22nd as the next court date and extended an invitation to the PDP, which the party must honour within 72 hours of being served with the said motion, or show such reasonable and just cause why the plaintiff should not be entitled to the reliefs sought in the motion.

The facts of the case are easy to understand. The governorship primaries were duly held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on 9th January, 2011 and at the end of that exercise (which was observed by INEC officials), Timipre Sylva emerged the winner, having scored majority of the valid votes cast. Huhuonline.com understands that in a letter dated January 24, 2011, the PDP subsequently submitted Sylva’s name to INEC as its governorship candidate in Bayelsa State as required by Section 31(1) of the Electoral Act, 2010.

The gubernatorial election which was scheduled to hold on 15th April, 2011 was later postponed in five states – Bayelsa, Cross River, Kogi, Adamawa and Sokoto. INEC eventually announced that the governorship election in Bayelsa State will be held in February, 2012, but did not call for fresh nomination of candidates by political parties. It was thus with a sense of shock and utter bewilderment that Sylva learnt from paid newspaper advertorials that the PDP will be conducting fresh governorship primaries in Bayelsa State on 19th November, 2011, despite the fact that Sylva’s nomination had already been forwarded to INEC as the PDP candidate for the governorship election.

According to Section 33 of the 2010 Electoral Act, (as amended): “a political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted pursuant to Section 32 of this Act, except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate.”

The rationale for this particular safeguard is quite meaningful and important. It is not in dispute that Gov. Sylva is neither dead; nor has he withdrawn his candidature to contest the Bayelsa State governorship election on the PDP platform. By using tendentious and disingenuous arguments to conduct a fresh governorship primary in Bayelsa State, the PDP State Working Committee (SWC) is in clear violation and subversion of Section 33 of the Electoral Act, making the emergence of any other gubernatorial aspirant from the exercise, null and void.

The Wakili Momud-led SWC obviously has a strange and subnormal predilection for hypocrisy. It adopted a cunning stratagem in the nature of secret review meetings and retreats involving predetermined groups of duplicitous speakers as though there were no guidelines for electing the party’s flag bearer in the elections. Doubtless, the SWC never troubled its head about what it set out to do by trying to foist Jonathan’s choice, Hon. Seriake Dickson as the PDP candidate for Bayelsa State.

The entire process was totally flawed. And this is so by reason of the fact that everything, including their thinking caps, had to be subordinated to their gnawing obsession with how to prevent Gov. Sylva from seeking re-election. Otherwise, they would have known that the choice of the PDP candidate for the gubernatorial election as contingent upon adherence to the provisions of section 32 and 33 of the Electoral Act is settled law.

As Lord Denning said in one of his memorable pronouncements upon the law: "If an act is void, then it is in law a nullity, Every proceeding which is founded on it is also bad and incurably bad. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will collapse": see Macfoy v. United Africa Co Ltd 1961 3 W.L.R. 1405 at page 1409. (emphasis added) An act that is null and void amounts to "nothing," being deemed in law not to exist or not to have taken place at all.

In conclusion, all the hateful machinations that have led to the disqualification of Gov. Sylva have been at the instance of President Jonathan. The President can no longer lie and hide behind the PDP; his dishonorable role in the unfolding saga, is now an undeniable fact which has been advertised in a flourish of trumpets, including the work of the divided SWC and other related PDP panels. They are therefore a nullity: the disqualification of Sylva from seeking re-election as the PDP flag bearer in the February 2012 election is patently null and void. Its nullity and illegality can be rested on the grounds set out above in sequential order.

Sylva’s Disqualification: Legogie Lambastes PDP

Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Albert Legogie, has berated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the exclusion of Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State from the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state.
Legogie, who spoke in Abuja, noted that every party had its guidelines for selecting candidates for elections, saying, “Unfortunately, we do not know the basis for the decision which has been made regarding the Bayelsa State governorship election.
“But I must say that from what I have read in the papers, the decision of the PDP cannot be said to be transparent.”
He further advised Sylva about the choices he had before him. “He can decide to remain in the party and not be a governor, he can decide to wait till tomorrow and contest some other positions and he can also decide to resign from the party and go into another party and run for the governorship.”
Legogie also frowned at the media for not following issues to logical conclusions, saying, “You know, when issues like this rear their ugly heads in this country, people talk about them for a very short time and in a week or two, people will forget about this. Nobody will talk about this again. You people in the media would not even mention it again. You will start following the new man that has emerged no matter how he emerged.”

haha, cant we even be modest at least for once, imagine calling a governor useless it speaks volume of you,
even wen want to make u grievances known its shd be done wit sanity,
what do even know abt politics,