allegations made against him by Adams Oshiomole that he
used thugs to disrupt the smooth election process at the
APC governorship primary which held on Tuesday
September 22nd. Sylva's reaction is contained in a
statement released by his media aide Media Adviser, Doifie
Bukoribo, yesterday night
“It is unfortunate that people like Adams
Oshiomhole, the governor of Edo State and former
president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, who
pretend to be incorruptible, would conduct himself in
the manner in which he did in relation to the Bayelsa
State governorship primary.
It was clear that Oshiomhole never wanted to
conduct the primary as scheduled. First, on his
request, the primary was shifted from its earlier date
of Saturday, September 19 to the Tuesday,
September 22 date. The grouse of the delegates was
that the primaries had been shifted once on
Oshiomhole’s request. That shift caused enough
hardship already. The ‘comrade’ was again shifting
the goal post, without giving consideration to these
hapless delegates. It was that frustration that we
were managing. It is so sad that the governor did
not appreciate our effort. Second, as chairman of the
APC Electoral Committee, Oshiomhole knew full well
that accreditation of delegates was to begin at 8am
on Tuesday, September 22, but he came to the
venue of the programme well past 12 noon. After he
arrived at that late hour, he proceeded with a
meeting with the committee members and another
meeting with the aspirants. He clearly had
preconceived plans about the Bayelsa APC
governorship primary. Third, Oshiomhole cannot
really say anything about the primary election
because he had left the venue at the time voting
commenced. Oshiomhole set the process in motion
for voting to commence before he excused himself
on the grounds that he was going to eat, and he
mandated other members of the committee to carry
on without him. The world needs to know that the
Bayelsa State Electoral Committee is made up of
seven members, and of the seven only Oshiomhole
left. The other six remained, conducted the primary
and declared Sylva winner of the exercise. Fourth, it
bothers on pettiness for Governor Oshiomhole to
quote me as antagonist to new entrants to our party.
Every discussion I had with the governor was public.
The only private conversation I had with him was
when he walked up to me and asked me if I truly
believed he was working. against my interest. To that
I answered ‘YES’. As a man of integrity (?) he even
offered to step down as chairman. If he had stepped
down would that have invalidated the primaries? We
should refrain from exaggerating our worth and
integrity. Let other good people judge our character.
After all, I was the one that received all new entrants.
Oshiomole was invited and he did not come. Fifth,
Oshiomhole came to Yenagoa with a clear agenda,
which was to get me out of the race at all cost. We
are aware that he had been lobbying at the centre to
get me out of the race in order to pave the way for
one of the aspirants. Indeed, one of the aspirants
had boasted openly that Oshiomhole would cancel
the primary once he arrived, shortly before his
arrival. Oshiomhole should not tell lies, if I was not
there, contrary to his insinuation that I rented thugs
to manhandle him, the crowd would have
manhandled him. I personally accompanied
Oshiomhole to the gate when he was going to eat.
Seventh, if Oshiomhole has anything personal
against me, let him tell the world. We are shocked
that the man who claims to be morally upright with a
strong ethical orientation would land in Yenagoa for
an exercise in which he ought to be an impartial
arbiter with a helicopter provided by a friend of one
of the aspirants.”"he said
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment