Bayelsa Guber: APC Candidate Not Sellable, Says Diri

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said the major challenge of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state ahead of the November 11 governorship election was that it picked an unsellable candidate that has been rejected by his party members and the people.

Diri, who spoke at a meeting with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders from Nembe Local Government Area in Government House, Yenagoa, yesterday.
He told his party members that the APC was not a problem to the PDP in the state but rather the candidate of the opposition party, Chief Timipre Sylva, who has been dumped by even his party chieftains due to his poor performance in public office.

Diri noted that the APC candidate failed as governor as well as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources as he made no positive impact while he held sway.
He also stated that the APC joint ticket was equally questionable as Sylva’s running mate had very serious legal issues that border on criminal records.
Diri accused Sylva as the mastermind of the violence unleashed on the people of Bassambiri community, because the man behind the killings in the area was his ally.

He said, “As a sitting governor, the killings that took place during the 2019 election in Nembe would not be allowed to be repeated. Your son, Sylva, is an unsellable candidate. That is why his own close allies are with us. So, we are not fighting APC.
“Instead, we are against the killing of our people in Nembe. Every finger is pointed at Kojo Sam and his boys. And these are the people supporting Sylva because he is shielding them.

“Apart from this, how do you hope to be governor of our state when you brought someone who allegedly ran away from prison without completing his term to be your running mate? That does not happen even in a Banana republic.”

The governor expressed confidence that the PDP would win the election, because the people were happy with the developmental projects embarked on by his administration, and emphasised that the era of obtaining votes through violence was over. Rather, he said candidates and their parties should present their achievements and allow the people to decide.