One of leading contenders for the All Progressives Congress governorship race in Bayelsa State, Ndutimi Alaibe, has withdrawn.
Alaibe, a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, said he withdrew from the contest in the interest of the party.
Before his withdrawal, Alaibe was seen as the greatest obstacle to former Governor Timipre Sylva clinching the ticket of the party.
It was learnt that Alaibe withdrew after the leadership of the party prevailed on him to do so.
Alaibe, in a statement on Wednesday morning, entitled, ‘For the sake of our party, I withdraw,’ recalled with nostalgia the zeal, enthusiasm and hope with which thousands of Bayelsans made a statement in the direction of change in August, 2015.
He also recalled a mental replay of the occasion wherein a qualitative representation of the leadership of the APC ushered in respected leaders and members from their then party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said that singular event had been phenomenal just as its true meaning and direction had all exuded confidence, unity of purpose, cohesion, collectivism and courage.
Alaibe said, “As one of such leaders who took that historic decision, I thought of giving a further bite to my burning desire to extricate the state from abysmal leadership failure.
“Therefore, my aspiration to be governor after series of consultations was to rekindle our collective hope and lift the state beyond its current state of decay under the PDP.
“Regardless, I am not oblivious of the fundamental fact that we all need a virile, united, cohesive and collaborative APC to bring about our desires to fruition. Not only do we need this, APC deserves every sacrifice, including personal interests, to arrive at the envisaged destination come February, 2016.
“This is more so that both as individual leaders and as a party, the need to avoid a situation of crisis that the PDP might inadvertently reap from cannot be over-emphasised.”
He said having carefully examined the circumstances that had trailed the governorship primary of the APC in Bayelsa, he had come to the conclusion that pushing his ambition beyond that point carried, alongside it, some collateral consequences.
He said though he was confident he had the required support of his admirers and supporters as well as the needed backing of Bayelsans to govern them, the hurdles set on the way of the noble project were capable of overheating the APC in Bayelsa.
He said, “In another vein, the virtuous path to take is that virtuous one in which personal interest are sacrificed for the common good, whether for the APC or the state in general. This is the path I chose in the light of the prevailing circumstances. I therefore withdraw from the governorship primary contest.
“This decision is taken in the interest of our party especially as we face the task of the common challenge of unseating the PDP in the state come December 5.”
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