By Akinwale Kasali
Timipere Sylva, former Governor of Bayelsa State, and now, Minister of State, Petroleum, is a very sad man. Sylva is not only sad, he is, also, at once, worried, frustrated and, unsure of himself. His unenviable situation stems from the February, the 13th Supreme Court verdict which annulled the election of his political godson, David Lyon, as the governor of Bayelsa state, and gave victory to PDP’s Douye Diri, who, until then, was the first runner-up in the election.
Sylva, a one-term governor of the state, under the PDP, was denied a second term by the party, in preference to the immediate past Governor of the state, Hon. Seriake Dickson.
He never forgave the PDP. He quit it, and joined the opposition party in the state, and had since then, tried a couple of times to be governor. He failed. He became, politically irrelevant, almost, but was given a lifeline by the President Buhari government. He began to work tirelessly for the APC. And gradually, began to build the party in the state. And even though he was making headway, the party never won the state.
Sylva’s sun shone brightest when President Buhari appointed him his Deputy in the Ministry of Petroleum. Not a few people agree that he got the position to enable him sweep the PDP out of the state.
Since Buhari, Bayelsa has been a target for the APC. Along with it are Rivers, Delta and Akwa Ibom. The party wanted, at least, one oil-rich state. And Bayelsa was the most vulnerable given the crisis which rocked the PDP in the months leading to the governorship election.
The state is so important to the APC that it is strongly believed that it was one of the reasons former APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, was removed from office. So much money spent, still the party lost.
With the emergence of Adams Oshiomhole as Chairman, and the empowerment of Sylva, time, it seemed, was ripe for the APC to pluck the apple. During the election, the party fought like a wounded lion. And, with so much blood-letting and the backing of Federal might, it won the governorship.
An elated party and, a more elated Sylva celebrated the victory, especially, as all legal obstacles had been vacated. Or, so they thought. Oshiomhole has succeeded where Oyegun failed. Or so he thought. Sylva, has made a big come-back, and justified his plum office, or so he thought.
Preparations for the take-over of the state by the APC had been concluded. Lyon had even gone to the stadium to rehearse how to take salute and wave hands. As an icing on the cake, Buhari and First Lady, Aisha, were for the first time, billed for Yenegoa to witness APC’s take-over of the state. Big deal.
But, man proposes, God disposes. Less than 24 hours to the big day, the Supreme court struck. Lyon’s running mate, now angrily refered to by some APC faithfuls as his *ruining mate*, became the problem. He was not qualified to run, the court ruined.
He has been parading forged educational certificates, the court ruled. He commited perjury. Lyon was thus thrown out of the paradise he had entered, almost. Hearts broke. One of those broken hearts was that of Sylva.
Denied the opportunity to answer the political godfather of a sitting governor, he has also failed, and disappointed the President in delivering Bayelsa, just like Oyegun. Oshiomhole went berserk, and mis-spoke. He ordered: “Nobody will be sworn-in as governor in Bayelsa”.
What to do?
Timipriye Sylva needed to assuage the President, and calm frayed nerves. To do that, he has sent apologies to the President and the Party.
Sylva said the apology was necessary because President Buhari, his wife, Aisha, and top Presidency officials had made preparations to be in Yenagoa last Friday to witness Lyon take his oath of office as the successor of Seriake Dickson, but the Apex Court ruled otherwise.
The former Governor of Bayelsa State stressed that the verdict by the Supreme Court can only be described as a “temporary setback.”
But, how temporary?
Next four years?
To Buhari and the national leadership of the ruling party, Sylva said: “APC in Bayelsa remains strong and its members resolute in our support for the ideals of a greater and prosperous Nigeria.
“I want to use this moment to call on all the people of our dear state, Bayelsa, to kindly shun all acts of violence and lawlessness. Also of great importance to me is to extend my profound apology to our President over the avoidable disruption to his busy schedule which was caused by the events of the moment.
“I am aware that Mr. President and his lovely wife, Aisha Buhari, had concluded arrangements to travel to Bayelsa State to witness the inauguration of the APC governorship candidate as governor. I, therefore, extend my apology to Mr. President and members of his entourage.
“To the good people of Bayelsa, I would like to emphasise the need for restraint at all times. No doubt the events of the last few days are as painful as they are regrettable. But, however, tempting it might be for anyone to take the law into their hands. Such temptation must be resisted in the greater interest of our state and the political stability of the country at large.
“The leadership of our great party, the All Progressives Congress has directed its team of legal experts to study the situation critically and proffer legal options available to the party accordingly.
“We should therefore all remain faithful to, and have confidence in, the wisdom and ability of the party leadership to provide direction at this very sensitive time.
“Once again I call on all people of Bayelsa State irrespective of whatever differences there may be to eschew violence and respect the security measures put in place by appropriate authorities.
”Let me conclude by assuring Mr. President and our party hierarchy that despite this temporary setback, APC in Bayelsa remains strong.”
The question however to Sylva and the party leadership, however, remains: Why field a candidate with forged educational certificates? They are the architects of their embarrassment and heartbreak.
