Bayelsa Guber Seat: Sylva Appeals For Calm
- Assures APC members on mandate recovery
- Apologises to Mr President
BY UBON EKANEM – Still smarting from the unexpected loss of Bayelsa State governorship seat to rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following Supreme Court judgment last week Thursday, Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, has appealed for calm among aggrieved All Progressives Congress (APC) members and supporters in the state.
This is even as he assured that the party’s mandate in the South South state would be restored in the overall interest of justice and fair play.
Similarly, the former Bayelsa Governor has apologised to President Muhammadu Buhari for the disruption of his busy schedule due to the apex Court ruling aborting Chief David Lyon’s inauguration as the Bayelsa State Chief Executive on Friday, February 14, 2020.
In a statement made available to the media on Sunday, Sylva, who is the APC leader in Bayelsa, said the apology is necessary because the President and his wife, Aisha, had already concluded arrangements to grace the event before the Court’s thunderbolt threw spanner into the works.
The Minister however appealed for calm, urged the people to be restrained in their actions by eschewing violence and allowing the APC’s legal team to explore all options available to correct what he described as injustice visited on the party
“I want to use this moment to call on all the people of our dear state, Bayelsa, to kindly shun all acts of violence and lawlessness.
“Also of great importance to me is to extend my profound apology to our President, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, over the avoidable disruption to his busy schedule which was caused by the events of the moment.
“I am aware that Mr. President and his lovely wife Her Excellency Aisha Buhari had concluded arrangements to travel to Bayelsa to witness the inauguration of the APC Governorship candidate as Governor of Bayelsa State. I therefore extend my apology to Mr. President and members of his entourage.”
The APC leader further said; “To the good people of Bayelsa state, I would like to emphasize the need for restraint at all times. No doubt the events of the last few days are as provocative as they are regrettable.”
According to the former governor, “As tempting as it might be for anyone to take the law into their hands, such temptation must be resisted in the greater interest of our state and the political stability of the country at large.
“The leadership of our great party the All Progressives Congress (APC) has directed its team of legal experts to study the situation critically and proffer legal options available to the party accordingly.
“We should therefore all remain faithful to, and have confidence in, the wisdom and ability of the party leadership to provide direction at this very sensitive time.
“Once again I call on all people of Bayelsa state irrespective of whatever differences there may be to eschew violence and respect the security measures put in place by appropriate authorities.
“Let me conclude by assuring Mr. President and our party hierarchy that despite this temporary setback, APC in Bayelsa remains strong and its members resolute in our support for the ideals of a greater and prosperous Nigeria as envisioned by our President, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari.”
Sounding overly optimistic in his comments about positive turn of events for APC in the nearest future, Sylva said; “The mandate will be restored and that dream of a better, greater Bayelsa State will be actualised”.
