Prior to the election on November 11, Timipre Sylva, the candidate for governor of Bayelsa State on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, and Douye Diri, the current governor and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, spat insults on Sunday over charges of surveillance and violence.
In a statement sent by his Special Adviser for Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru, Sylva alleged that Diri had hired spies to track his whereabouts. The second-term candidate governor disputed the charge, claiming Sylva was “crying wolf” when none existed.
According to reliable intelligence that was at his disposal, the former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources stated that this was the case.
The statement read, “Credible reports available to H.E. Chief Timipre Sylva, governorship candidate of the APC in Bayelsa State, suggest that Governor Douye Diri has commissioned spies across the state, especially at the Bayelsa International Cargo Airport, to document and report Chief Sylva’s movements in Bayelsa and environs to some off-grid security architecture in the state.
A close security aide to Governor Diri is in charge of this desperate, illegal security operation, and it is well known that the goal is to jeopardize Chief Sylva’s convoy and protection.
“This is to warn the general public, in particular the security agencies across the nation, to be aware of Governor Diri’s use of violence against Sylva and the Bayelsa people, with a particular focus on Opu-Nembe.
“A serving governor’s primary campaign tactic, of course, was to reel off accomplishments and milestones, not to invest in an organization of violence. Instead of hiring spies, Diri should be hiring projects.
“Bayelsans are mostly in agreement with Sylva’s push to Creek Haven, which represents an act of liberation. The state of Bayelsa will be freed from the grip of individuals whose use of violence as a fruitless cover for their incompetence. Change is imminent, change is inevitable, and these individuals will be defeated.
However, according to a statement from his chief press secretary, Daniel Alabrah, Diri thought that Sylva was the one scheming what he (Sylva) was accusing the governor of, and that the former minister was to blame based on his lineage.
Governor Douye Diri is a well-known pacifist and supporter of politics devoid of resentment, according to the statement. In order to get re-elected, he has stated that he won’t go to any lengths.
The February/March general election in the country was so quiet in Bayelsa State for the first time in the state’s electoral history that there were no reports of bloodshed and killings, in contrast to previous elections, it is on record. The governor’s conciliatory nature, which permeates the state’s politics, was to blame for this.
Chief Sylva has a talent for making up problems. We think he is the one who is organizing what he is accusing the governor of based on his prior actions. But it is preferable to disregard the rants of a drowning guy looking for a straw to cling to or attempting to find an explanation for his failed governorship endeavor. The Nembe/Brass people, the Bayelsa electorate, and the party leaders all reject him completely.
