Posted by By FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa on
Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State has denied allegations that he was involved in the Wilbros oil scam.
Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State has denied allegations that he was involved in the Wilbros oil scam.
Sylva was Special Assistant to Dr. Edmund Daukoru when he was Special Adviser on Petroluem to former president Olusegun Obasanjo and later when he was Minister of Petroluem.
Report had been rife in Yenagoa, the state capital, that Sylva has been mentioned in the scam and was invited to Abuja on the orders of the Presidency in preparation to appear in court with Daukoru.
But the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Affairs, Dr. George Fente, in a statement in Yenagoa denied the allegations and said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), or any other government agency had neither invited nor investigated Chief Daukoru or Sylva for corrupt practises.
According to him, there is no need for Sylva to make clarifications about oil deals with any government agency because he was never part of any deal while he was in office.
Fente said the plot to link Sylva with the scam was orchestrated by politicians to descredit Daukoru and the governor in an attempt to destabilise the administration's effort in providing good governance to Bayelsans.
While lameneting the poor state of infrastructure in the state, Fente said it was sad that after eight years of democrcatic rule, the state is yet to witness accelerated development, stressing that Sylva was irrevocably committed to the development of the state and would not be distracted from his set objectives.