Timipre Sylva, the party’s governorship candidate and recently-retired minister of state for petroleum resources, has been the only contributor to the state chapter of the APC, according to the party’s leadership in Bayelsa State.
After a solidarity walk that culminated in a grand reception for Sylva by supporters at the party’s secretariat in Yenagoa, the state APC chairman, Dennis Otiotio, revealed this to journalists in a press conference.
This came right after he announced that the party had established a reconciliation committee led by Prof. Millionaire Abowei to communicate with the disgruntled candidates for governor who were upset with the results of the primary election that selected Sylva as the party’s nominee for the November 11 elections.
Otiotio claimed that because Sylva had left for Abuja soon after the exercise, members and supporters decided to host an event to welcome him home.
He noted that the party supporters wanted to use the lavish reception to show their love for him and dedication to his electoral victory and said that the former governor had always carried the financial burden of the state APC.
Timipre Sylva has been the party’s sole sponsor in previous elections, according to the APC chairman. The people felt that now that he has been chosen as our party’s candidate, we must turn out in force to show him our support and love. He has been the driving force behind the party and its sole financier.
We want to let him know that we support him and that we will do everything in our power to help him win the governorship of Bayelsa State on November 11, 2023.
Sylva was crowned the victor of the April 14–15 election by the chairman of the APC Primary Election Committee, Ahmed Jibrin.
Sylva received 52,061 votes to win the governorship ticket, according to Jibrin, who made the announcement at the party’s secretariat in Yenagoa. Joshua Maciver, a former militant leader, finished second with 2,078 votes.
With 1,584 votes, David Lyon, the APC’s third-place finisher for governor in 2019, trailed Prof. Ongoebi Etebu, Isikima Johnson, and Festus Daumiebi, who received 1, 277, 584, and 557 votes, respectively.
Lyon and Daumiebi, however, rejected the outcome, claiming that the primary did not occur in the wards throughout the state’s local government areas and that the candidates’ scores were simply distributed to them.
Even as Daumiebi threatened to seek redress in court, they also demanded that the exercise be cancelled.
At the conclusion of such a process, some candidates may be upset, according to Otiotio, who also noted that the committee was tasked with bringing together all irate members so that the party could fight the incumbent governor with a unified front.
He declared, “We are on the right track. The State Executive Committee of this great party established a reconciliation committee under the leadership of His Royal Highness, Prof. Millionaire Abowei.
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“There will be people who feel resentful after any party primary. The goal of the reconciliation committee is to bring all members who have grievances together so that we can stand as one.
The threat of flooding and unemployment will be addressed, along with the establishment of industries, power, and security, among other things, according to Sylva.
The APC governorship candidate promised to bring in investments to free the state’s economy as he spoke to a crowd of party members who had walked in solidarity with him from the state’s entrance, Igbogene, to the party’s secretariat in Yenagoa.
He added that the state’s development had been neglected by the Governor Douye Diri-led administration.
