Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has described the plan by his predecessor, Timipre Sylva, to return to office as an “illusion”.
The governor stated this in a statement by his media aide, Daniel Iworiso-Markson on Monday, in reaction to comments credited to Mr. Sylva, accusing him of governance by intimidation and fear.
Mr. Sylva, who was governor between 2007 and 2012 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, had while speaking with select journalists in Yenagoa at the weekend, said he was eminently qualified to contest the 2016 governorship election in the South-South State.
The former governor, who was dropped by the PDP as its candidate in the 2012 governorship polls allegedly on orders from then President Goodluck Jonathan, defected to the All Progressives Congress.
Mr. Dickson, in the statement, said his predecessor’s renewed ambition to govern the state would not be actualized as his era was the darkest in the history of the states.
“Sylva’s remarks epitomized those of a man who has lost focus and not in touch with the realities on the ground. It is heart-warming that he (Sylva) is not accusing me of multiple crimes and criminality, secret killings, cultism, large scale corruption and brigandage, which were the hallmarks of his tenure as governor of Bayelsa State”, the governor.
“Sylva’s era as governor of Bayelsa State was the darkest days in the history of the State. Bayelsans have become wiser and would not be cajoled or hoodwinked by his antics. If Sylva is a wise man, he would have seen the handwriting on the wall, that Bayelsans have since rejected him by voting massively for the Peoples Democratic Party in all the recent elections.
“As a clear manifestation of the peoples’ total dislike for Sylva, he lost in his unit, ward and constituency in the State and National Assembly polls that were conducted recently in the State. These are ominous signals that he can’t be governor again”.
Mr. Iworiso-Markson, therefore, wondered why Mr. Sylva would think that, he and the APC stand any chance of defeating a performing PDP governor in the forthcoming election in the state.
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