Why PDP keeps Sylva waiting, by Baraje

[TGD]

 Clears Bayelsa's-ex SSG, Igali, for primary

Suspense as Jonathan visits Yenagoa today

AS at last night, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kept Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva and his supporters in suspense as it failed to make a definitive statement on his fitness or otherwise for the November 19 party primaries and the governorship race.

At a press conference yesterday in Abuja, PDP Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, said the party was still collating information with a view to determining Sylva's eligibility for the forthcoming primaries.

"We have not sacked Sylva.  We are doing our politicking by finding out that our candidates are fit and suitable because we don't want to put a candidate for the January election and fail.  So, we want a candidate that can win election for us."

Baraje said the party had been inundated with complaints, which it cannot be overlooked. According to him, "between that period and this, we received complaints of some of these people and decided to find out and in the process of doing that discovered that the finding might not be properly done here. We told the Appeal Panel to invite the people for fair hearing, and last Sunday they came and defended themselves."

He said the party's National Working Committee (NWC) took extra effort to find out from outside communities where these complaints emerged," stressing "that is exactly what we are doing and luckily, within 48 hours, responses are coming from all these areas and as they are coming, we are releasing the names cleared. The records are there for us."

He denied reports that the governor had been screened out.

Amid this, President Goodluck Jonathan is expected in Yenagoa, the state capital today for the chalking (traditional rites ahead of the coronation ceremony) of Chief Ebitimi Banigo, the former Minister of Science and Technology as the Amanayanbo of Okpoma. Okpoma is the hometown of Sylva.

There were concerns last night over the kind of welcome the President would receive on the trip.

Even though there are claims that Sylva had been cleared and was awaiting the announcement of the NWC, another twist developed in the tale.

It was learnt that the NWC was ordered to hold on to the announcement and the matter was referred to the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) to continue the investigations on Sylva.

The Guardian also learnt that a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources, Godknows Igali, might have been cleared for the PDP's primaries.

Igali was said to have travelled out of the country during the first screening of the aspirants in Port Harcourt, Rivers State but last night, party sources said he might have been cleared to join the list of PDP aspirants.

But Baraje said the PDP was yet to complete the exercise,  adding that "we believe that we will still receive feedback from our findings. If we do, we will give more releases until we are able to finish with all the complaints. This is exactly what we are doing. The exercise is a question of procedure; it is not as if we have put a stop on it, we have not sacked Sylva. "

According to him, the PDP is doing its politicking by finding out which candidates are suitable and can win the election.

"Sylva won election for us and we believe he can still win election again, but let us be thorough by following our old tradition. The constitution of our party is very clear and that is what we are doing, we have not gone outside our constitution neither have we infringed on the right of any candidate," Baraje stated.

He debunked reports that members of the NWC received N500 million as bribes from Sylva to clear him.

"We at the PDP, particularly the leadership, we are used to this kind of blackmail, we are not moved. On Kogi State issue, they said that the chairman received $8 million, it was circulated and they mentioned some members of NWC that also got $60 million. People who write such things I wonder at times whether they know the meaning of millions, because they just mentioned figures with so much levity. "

Baraje said the Bayelsa saga was not different from others before it, citing the case of Kogi, where the PDP leadership was accused of cancelling the name of an aspirant and replacing him with another.  He said the party was happy that the people of Kogi were happy about the outcome of the primaries in the state. "The same goes for Adamawa and we kept on telling Nigerians that when it comes to democratic politicking, the PDP is the party to beat and the same thing is happening in Bayelsa."

The Guardian, however, learnt Sylva's fate might be announced today by the party.



The Guardian