A former Governor of Bayelsa state, Chief Timipre Sylva, has described former President Goodluck Jonathan as “President of Bayelsa” in response to the latter’s endorsement of Governor Seriake Dickson’s re-election bid.
Sylva, who is seeking the All Progressives Congress, APC, ticket for the December 5 governorship poll in the state, however, said the ex-president’s support for Dickson is no threat to his ambition to return to Government House.
He spoke in an interview in Abuja on Thursday after going through a screening exercise, preparatory to contesting the APC governorship primaries.
He said, “Well, frankly, I am not worried. I always say that the former President was the President of Bayelsa State and he has proven me right. He has always been the President of Bayelsa State; He was never the President of Nigeria”.
Asked what his chances of getting the APC ticket were, Sylva said, “I feel that I have a good standing with the people. As you can see, if you look behind me, you will see the array of people who are here with me.
Who else is left in Bayelsa? So I think that because of the people who are with me, I stand a very good chance”.
Reacting to the speculation in some quarters that some aspirants were considering the possibility of stepping down for others, he said, “There are some discussions going on. When it is time to make it public, you will hear”.
A former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Timi Alaibe, and a former Nigerian Ambassador to Japan, Emmanuel Otiotio, are among the 19 aspirants who also obtained nomination forms and attended the screening exercise ahead of the party’s primaries.
Support InfoStride News' Credible Journalism: Only credible journalism can guarantee a fair, accountable and transparent society, including democracy and government. It involves a lot of efforts and money. We need your support. Click here to Donate