Former Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva, has described as a deceptive media campaign, recent reports that a strange group named Ex-Bayelsa Government Officials Forum (EBGOF), had left Sylva and All Progressives Congress (APC), and declared support for President Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
A statement signed by the Media Adviser to Sylva, Doifie Buokoribo said that the group made spurious and mythical allegations about the former governor’s failure to consult them before moving to APC as their grouse for the seeming about-face.
“Sylva wishes to make it clear that the said members of EBGOF were never members of APC in Bayelsa State – as they even confirmed in their own letter.
“In the APC equation, in particular, and in the politics of Bayelsa State and Nigeria, in general, the group is of no consequence – collectively and severally.
“The reference to Sylva in the said letter by the group was in very poor taste, as they have been on their own since he left office on 27 January 2012. It is, therefore, immoral to claim association with him in order to curry favour with whomever they wish,” the statement said.
The statement stressed that as a democrat, Sylva believes it is the right of every individual to decide whom to associate or not to associate with, adding that the former governor is not disturbed by a media blitz around a formal announcement by a few individuals “whose political inclinations are common knowledge even since the time he was governor of Bayelsa State.
“Sylva is a politician who believes in principle even in the face of relentless persecution by the government of the day. The APC, which he leads in Bayelsa State, has maintained a consistently increasing followership, despite the antiques and jitters of Abuja and their proxies in the state.
“We know for a fact that huge inducements are at play here and that arrangements have been concluded for a solidarity visit to the mastermind of this so-called disassociation from Sylva.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the APC train is on a steady course in Bayelsa State, and no propaganda can derail it,” the statement said.
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