Posted by By FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa on
The plot to stop the former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva from featuring in the governorship election re-run as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate has thickened, with moves to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe allegations of financial impropriety, especially the alleged loans he obtained without due process.
The plot to stop the former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva from featuring in the governorship election re-run as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate has thickened, with moves to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe allegations of financial impropriety, especially the alleged loans he obtained without due process.
According to sources, the moves, coordinated by the National Assembly caucus of the PDP from Bayelsa State, is to effectively put a halt to what Vice President Goodluck Jonathan and Chief Ndutimi Alaibe of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) believe to be the reign of arbitrary decisions without recourse to the party foisted on the state by Sylva in the 10 months he spent in office.
Part of Sylva's sin was his alleged move to undermine the interest of Jonathan in Bayelsa State to the extent that he boasted to one of the Vice President's loyalists, who was forced to resign from government, that he was going to deal with him(Jonathan).
Also, Sylva's insistence on the congress that produced Chief Rufus Abadi as PDP chairman in the state, as against the decision of the expanded caucus of the party that Hon. Fred Agbedi should continue, is seen as an affront on the elders of the party.
One of the lawmakers, who was asked if their calls for a new candidate would not jeopardize the chances of the PDP, said that Sylva destroyed the machinery that brought him into office.
'This is politics and what is wrong if we say the party should field another candidate? All Sylva has done since he came into office was to undermine us, so you expect us to support that kind of person?" he said.
Meanwhile, another source close to the Action Congress (AC) said Sylva's hopes of relying on Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha would be dashed as the former governor sees the nullification of the election as an opportunity for him to bounce back in the state, using his protégé, Ebitimi Amgbare, the AC governorship candidate.
According to the source, Alamieyeseigha sold a dummy to the public and Sylva that he was putting pressure on Amgbare to drop his appeal, while secretly hoping that the election would be quashed.
The source said: 'Amgbare became AC candidate two weeks to the election because the party's hierarchy, especially Chief Tom Ikimi, insisted that the party must do his (Alamieyeseigha's) bidding in Bayelsa State because he is one of them. All the noise that he was trying to put pressure on him to drop the appeal was just a smokescreen.
Alamieyeseigha was preparing to anoint Amgbare as governorship candidate in 2007 before he ran into trouble with Obasanjo. Alamieyeseigha pulled the strings for him, from EFCC custody, to ensure he emerged AC candidate.
How can he not be able to talk to him?
'Aside that, the funds spent in the court case were provided by a former Lagos governor because of Alamieyeseigha. So even if we believe that Alamieyeseigha spoke to him and he refused, it is for Alamieyeiseigha to tell the ex-Lagos governor to call off the funds and that would be the end of Amgbare's cases, but that did not happen.
'What people don't know is that Alamieyeseigha has not forgiven those who supervised his disgraceful removal. He would see this nullification as a payback time for PDP. You just watch what would happen."
Meanwhile, a tight security has been woven by men of the Joint Military Task Force and mobile policemen round the Bayelsa State Government House to prevent the looting of government property.
The beef up of security, which has also prompted security personnel attached to the gate to subject vehicles going out of the Government House to strict search, followed alleged movement of undisclosed large sum of money out of the seat of power on Tuesday night after the removal of Sylva by the Court of Appeal.
According to eye-witness account, there was a free-for-all fight at the Government House on Tuesday night when some youths first attempted to move huge sacs of money from the Accounts Department but were prevented by another youth group, which had gathered for the celebration party.
The youth group had accosted those moving out the money into an unmarked white Toyota Hiace, asking who authorized them to do so. Their refusal to give satisfactory answers forced the youths to attempt to grab some of the sacs, which resulted in exchange of blows.