The All Progressives Congress (APC), Bayelsa State Chapter, has frowned at a statement by the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum entitled, “On Danger Signals From Rivers And Other States.”
In the statement signed by Chief E.K. Clark (PANDEF Leader); Chief Ayo Adebanjo (Afenifere Leader); Chief John Nwodo (President General, Ohaneze); and Dr Pogu Bitrus (President, Middle Belt Forum), the forum expressed concern about the situation in Rivers State over last Saturday’s elections.
They said in part, “There has been a spill over of the Rivers situation to Bayelsa State where Mr Timpire Sylva of the ruling APC has also been alleged to be terrorising residents with impunity.
“We call on the President to call Messrs Amaechi and Sylva to order and restore normalcy so that the electoral process in Rivers State in particular can be concluded.
“Indeed, if we are a Republic governed by law, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and Mr. Timpire Sylva should have been arrested by now for the wanton violence they have instigated.”
But the Bayelsa state chapter of the ruling APC has described that “this statement clearly drips malice and prejudice.”
According to Doifie Buokoribo, state publicity Secretary, “Our party finds the statement offensive, unwarranted and disgraceful. Like most Nigerians, we know it as a matter of fact that these are partisan elders on the side of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). During the Presidential Elections, this group openly supported and campaigned for the defeated PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. These elders do not represent the interests of the ethnic nations they purport to speak for.”
“But the thinking public knows Sylva is an innocent man. He is a man of peace.
“Besides, as elders one would have expected the endorsers of that statement to reach out to Sylva and hear from him before releasing their statement. This is more so as, even by their own admission, the APC leader has only “been alleged” to do the things they referred to, and those making the allegation are known partisans in the said political contests.
“But, alas, the elders have been so compromised that they are determined to deny their target even the right of fair hearing,” he concludes
