CONFUSION still trails the November 19, 2011 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial primary election in Bayelsa State as its National Working Committee (NWC) came under pressure last night to clear Governor Timipre Sylva to take part in the exercise.
Indeed, there were feelers last night that he may be cleared today. And as the uncertainty over Sylva's fate deepens, indications also emerged that President Goodluck Jonathan may have decided that the party's NWC should have the final word on the clearance of aspirants.
Sources said that the President may have taken the stance in order to shield himself from insinuations and claims by some aspirants that he had endorsed their ambition.
The Guardian learnt that following a series of meetings between the Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF), pressure was brought to bear on the PDP leadership to exercise caution over the way the aspirants were being treated.
The party last Tuesday cleared four aspirants, leaving out Sylva and former Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta, Timi Alaibe, with an explanation that some others would be considered subsequently. The four cleared were Oruta Justine Boloubo, Henry Seriake Dickson, Enai Christopher Fullpower and Kalango Michael Youppele.
Following this development, the governors went into action meeting with the leadership of the party to find out what Sylva's problem is. The governors were said to have pointed out the implication of screening aspirants, particularly a sitting governor out in controversial circumstances.
According to party sources, governors on the platform of the party later met and mandated the NGF's chairman, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers who is also a PDP member to meet with the leadership to sort out the issue.
Consequently, the NWC of the party met yesterday to review the situation. The NWC members were said to have been sharply divided as at press time.
The PDP's national publicity secretary, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, could not be reached for comments but a member of the party said: "We are yeTO reach a conclusion on the matter.''
The president's stance was also seen as a reaction after Tuesday night's appeal by the Governors' Forum to the president to endorse Sylva's second term ambition.
The Guardian learnt last night that "the president did not turn a deaf ear to the pleas of the governors. The situation is still open and the probability that Sylva will be cleared for the primary is high. The NWC of the PDP has also stated that the situation is still open and more aspirants will be cleared.
"It is therefore false for anyone to say categorically that the governor has not been cleared while the primary has not been conducted."
A South East governor disclosed yesterday that, "Sylva brought his political ordeal to the Forum, but those of us who knew the frosty relationship between the President and Sylva from his days as vice president avoided making comments.
"We recalled that but for the intervention of the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Chief Tony Anenih and the PDP national leadership of the party, Sylva would have been dropped in the governorship re-run due to his differences with Jonathan and other major stakeholders in the state since he became governor in 2007."
The governor however confirmed that short of making a categorical statement, the President insisted on party supremacy.
The governor said: "The President appeared indifferent, insisting that he has no hand in the party affairs regarding the upcoming governorship primary in Bayelsa."
Meanwhile, a member of the NWC said that, "those cleared might be the last because those not cleared have damning security reports or anti-party activities hanging on them that might not be resolved before the primary."
That position is belated and uninformed said a source close to the Governors' Forum, who insisted that, "more aspirants would be cleared. The door is not closed yet. And that is where Sylva will come in. It is likely that the next batch will be cleared close to the primary. The true situation is that Sylva won't be disqualified after the governors have begged; he will participate in the primary. The late clearance is a likely ploy to weaken his support base before the primary. They will allow him at the last minute. It is obvious that the relationship between the president and the governor is not rosy, there are many issues, but then there is a difference between state matter and matters of state."
Meanwhile, the PDP has been advised to hinge the selection of its governorship candidate in Bayelsa on the principle of fairness and justice in order not to plunge the state into political turmoil.
An elder statesman and former President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof. Kimse Okoko told The Guardian in Port Harcourt yesterday that the confusion over the fate of Sylva was unfortunate.
He prayed that the interest of the state should be taken into consideration in order to avoid the political turmoil that succession process has always ignited.
He said: "The PDP should avoid political turmoil in Bayelsa. Such turmoil in the past has not been helpful to the state. If this succession issue is not well handled, it will destabilise the state. We don't want that type of schism anymore.''
Shortly before the governor's visit to Aso Rock to plead with Jonathan, there were rumours that Sylva may have got a provisional clearance from the NWC to contest the primary.
An initial clearance by the Brig.-Gen. Idi Adamu-led Governorship Screening Committee and the governorship Appeal screening panel headed by Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi, was withdrawn by the NWC.
The decision of the NWC was allegedly based on the outcome of the meeting the NWC had with Jonathan, which was drawn from a petition bordering on security threat allegedly written against the governor by a law firm, Oracle Law Firm to the screening panel.
The Guardian gathered that reprieve had come the way of Sylva when the Governors Forum visited Jonathan to plead on the behalf of their colleague governor.
The President according to sources referred the governors to party headquarters to sort out the issues with the NWC.
Before then, the President was said to have instructed Sylva to write an apology. The Guardian gathered that all the National Assembly members from Bayelsa had also gone to the president to plead with him to spare the governor the embarrassment of not returning for a second tenure.
The lawmakers had recalled the commitment the governor made to deliver all PDP candidates at the April election and expressed the hope that if given a second chance he would do well.
Bayelsa Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Nathan Egba at a press briefing in Abuja, claimed that there was a desperate attempt by certain forces to exclude the governor from seeking re-election on the platform of the PDP.
He said, "I have received assurances at the highest levels that the party would base all its actions concerning the primary on law. As an incumbent, the governor expects protection from the party and all its organs as all sorts of machinations can be plotted against him."
Meanwhile Okoko urged the principal actors in the power struggle not to subject themselves to the pursuit of their personal interest against the interest of the state.
"I urge that caution should be the watchword and the activities of the party must be within the requirement for the rule of law, fairness and justice," he said.
Meanwhile, Dickson yesterday alleged that some of the aspirants were mounting pressure on the President to adopt them.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Dickson, flanked by the Director-General of his campaign organisation, Fred Agbedi, claimed that the President had come under immense pressure from a particular aspirant to endorse him as the candidate of the party.
He said that Jonathan should not be distracted from the huge task he has in the country and Bayelsans should be allowed to choose whoever they want without undue influence.
"They are busy putting pressure on President Jonathan. Let's leave him alone. It is either the National Assembly or the governors talking. We should be careful not to shutdown national government. Let us not distract Mr. President," he said.
Dickson said that the aspirants should be allowed to test their popularity in the state, noting that there is a genuine effort on his part to rebuild the state because it has collapsed.
While the horse-trading continued in Abuja where state commissioners and top government officials have since relocated, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, has remained indifferent; government activities expectedly have been grounded.
The Chairman, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Bayelsa State, Mr. Frank Oputu, has however fingered the Presidency in the alleged plot to deny Sylva the PDP ticket.
To him, the endorsement of the President's political machinery, the "Green Movement" of Seriaki Dickson, is an indication that the Presidency is involved in the political struggle in the state.
Mr. Ebikibina Miriki, an indigene of the state and the National Youth Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), described what is happening in the state as very unfortunate.
He regretted that the PDP internal squabble has grounded government activities in the state.
Ebikekeme Ere, a former member of the Federal House of Representatives, argued that the action of PDP has demonstrated that the party is not ready for democracy.
The Guardian