APC cancels Bayelsa guber primaries

The Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), John Odigie-Oyegun yesterday disclosed that the party’s governorship primary, which held in Bayelsa State on September 22, had been cancelled.

The rescheduled date of the Bayelsa governorship primaries is yet to be announced.

Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke to reporters in Abuja via telephone cited security concerns as reason for the postponement of the primary election, which pitted Timipre Sylva and Timi Alaibe against each other.

Said he: “The primary has been rescheduled. It had to be called off due to security challenges.”

In the primaries held on Tuesday this week, fourteen aspirants led by Alaibe who was chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) staged a walk- out on the basis that it was marred by gross irregularities.

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Congress (APC), Timi Frank, who shed light on the issue remarked that the primary election did not hold in Bayelsa.

Frank claimed that Timipre Sylva had held a member of the committee under duress to declare him the party’s candidate. Claiming that both committee chairman and its secretary were not part of the ‘kangaroo primary’ and they were not present when Sylva was declared, he said that the party would soon come up with a position on the primary and choose a date when an acceptable primary election would be conducted.

He noted: “I am speaking as a concerned citizen of Bayelsa that this primary is not acceptable anywhere. In a situation where all other aspirants walked out of the venue and a particular aspirant put a member of the primary election committee under duress to declare him winner, while the chairman and secretary of the committee were not present. I believe the party will soon come up with a position on that fraud called primary election and schedule a date when an acceptable primary election will hold.”

Results of the primary indicated that Sylva polled 726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timi Alaibe, a former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, who got four votes. A total of 1, 502 delegates were expected to participate in the primary election, which had 19 aspirants contesting the party’s flag bearer.