Timipre Sylva, former petroleum minister, on Sunday, expressed appreciation to the APC faithful after emerging as the party’s governorship candidate in Bayelsa. 

“This is not a personal victory. It is a collective one. Our party has once again demonstrated what true democracy is and how elections should be – peaceful, credible and reflective of the people’s wishes,” stated the former Bayelsa governor. “I thank the other aspirants. As a party and people, we owe them a debt of gratitude. I do not see their move as one of ambition. All I see, all that can be seen is true love and patriotism for our state and party.”

Mr Sylva enlisted the support of other aspirants who contested along with him and stated that they would work together to achieve the collective aim of returning to winning ways in Bayelsa. 

“I will work with the other aspirants and party stakeholders, and we will create the Bayelsa we all yearn for. We will make every Bayelsa person proud of our state. Our brothers and sisters from other political divides must have watched how the APC elections went,” added Mr Sylva.

He called for “the same decorum in the general elections,” noting that “Bayelsa people deserve the right to exercise their franchise freely.”

“They must have a stake in their own state,” Mr Sylva said 

Mr Sylva was declared the winner of the APC governorship primary by Ahmed Jibrin, the chairman of the APC election committee, on Saturday.

He will face PDP’s Governor Douye Diri, who emerged unopposed for a second term bid.

The APC, in 2019, won the Bayelsa governorship seat in a landslide. But the Supreme Court, in a verdict on the eve of the inauguration, annulled the victory over irregularities in the deputy governorship candidate of the APC. 

(NAN)