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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Syvla is a risk- taker. Those who know him have often pointed to his political trajectory as a risk-taker, which has earned him several sobriquets, including Don Bigatin. His emergence as a lawmaker in Old Rivers State, just fresh from the university, was because he took risks to contest when his age mates believed politics was too risky a business.
His nomination as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate and eventual election as governor in 2007 to replace Dr Goodluck Jonathan, who had been nominated to be late Umaru Yar’Adua’s running mate, was because he took risks to contest the 2006 Bayelsa eection, where he was a distant runner-up.
Again, in 2013/2014, when it was considered too risky for an Ijaw man to identify with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ijaw territory because of Goodluck Jonathan, who was then running for re-election, Sylva already labelled a turncoat by the Ijaw political class, led members of his political family to hoist the APC flag in Bayelsa, nurturing the party to become a vibrant opposition party in Bayelsa State to the point of winning a governorship election before the Supreme Court handed victory to the PDP through the back door.
Recently, Sylva took another risk, this time severing his relationship with the APC, accusing the ruling party of ‘’abandoning its founding ideals’’. Sylva’s latest political step, a few months before the 2027 general elections, is not without its reverberations in Bayelsa East, where his influence is widespread, and in the larger Bayelsa State, where his foot soldiers have not been able to fit into the new APC under the leadership of Bayelsa governor, Senator Douye Diri.
Though he has not publicly announced his next political destination, feelers from some of his former aides indicate that Sylva is already in bed with leaders of the African Democratic (ADC), and he is set to play a major role in creating an upset against the APC in the 2027 elections
Therefore, the questions on the lips of close observers of Bayelsa politics are: What significance does Sylva’s resignation from the APC have? Can his resignation from the party hurt the APC in the 2027 general elections in Bayelsa State?
Investigations revealed that the relationship between Sylva and APC became frosty after the November 2023 Bayelsa governorship election. Sylva, who was the candidate of the party, lost the election to the then People’s Democratic Party PDP) candidate and incumbent governor, Senator Douye Diri.
Sylva and his supporters were already rejoicing and only waiting for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare him the winner of the election, only for the electoral commission to cancel 84,806 votes belonging to the APC, ostensibly with the knowledge of powerful APC leaders in Aso Rock.
Sylva’s several attempts to persuade the APC power brokers to bail him out and help him secure victory were thwarted because it was believed President Bola Tinubu had not forgiven him, and those considered part of the Aso Rock cabal for attempting to frustrate his emergence as President. In 2023.
A group of Sylva’s loyalists, in a petition to the leadership of the APC, had accused the party of using their principal as a sacrificial lamb.
‘’We find it strange and curious that our party’s candidate was left in the lurch by the party at the national level at a time he needed the support of the party the most, and are therefore inclined to believe that the Bayelsa State chapter of the APC has once again been used as a sacrificial lamb to satisfy some vested interests without any consideration for the party’s teeming members and supporters who have worked assiduously and at great cost for our party’s victory.
“If the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wasn’t sacrificed to please some vested interests, how do we explain the audacious cancellation of results in areas such as Ogbia, Nembe, Brass, and Southern Ijaw L.G.As where our great party had a clear lead until the unfathomable happened, with the INEC jettisoning the respective collation centres where the results ought to have been declared and moved the collation of results to the state collation centre in Yenagoa, the state capital where results already declared at polling units with our party in clear lead were cancelled in flagrant contravention of Section 51 of the Electoral Act, 2022?”
Even before he ran into troubled waters over the alleged coup, Sylva’s running battle with the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heinkein Lokpobiri, to retain the leadership of the party on one hand and fending off the defection of Diri without him in the picture on the other hand, was a source of frustration that indicated his days as a member of the APC were numbered.
Political pundits contend that his eventual decision to dump the APC was the only option left for him. And typical of Sylva, he ensured the announcement of his exit from the party had his distinct signature of blazing criticism.
Hear him ‘’As a founding member of the APC, and one who joined other well-meaning Nigerians in building the Party with sweat and money, it is deeply saddening to witness how the ideals we espoused have been so thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted. Moreover, I cannot, in all good conscience, continue to belong to a Party whose leaders believe that “all is fair in politics” and have consistently demonstrated that belief in practice. All cannot be fair in any endeavour of life. The demands of basic decency and morality forbid it. Unfortunately, this mentality appears to underpin virtually every action, and even inaction, of this administration.
“The present Government, formed under the banner of the APC we once loved, has disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians. And I can see neither a credible attempt nor any possibility of a revamp. I am therefore left with no other choice than to jettison a floundering ship whose fate appears to have been sealed by its irredeemable load of iniquities. I have no doubt that, in the coming election, Nigerians will vote for Nigeria.
A former national deputy publicity secretary of the party, Yekini Nabena had downplayed Sylva’s exit from the party as inconsequential to hurt the electoral fortunes of the APC.
According to him, while Sylva remains a phenomenal leader who would be remembered and respected for his sacrifices in building the party in the state, the party, he insisted, had become bigger than an individual.
Nabena, who can also be regarded as one of Sylva’s boys, stated that “the party’s structure and other stakeholders had resolved to stay in APC and work for its success and deliver President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in the state.”
Investigations revealed that Nabena is close to the truth about several APC stakeholders’ stance to remain in the party and deliver Tinubu and other party candidates in 2027
Findings indicated that, aside from a handful of former aides of Sylva’s who started to hobnob with ADC leaders, critical stakeholders who have been the backbone of the APC since 2013 have decided to remain in the APC, leaving Sylva alone on his political voyage to uncharted waters.
In Bayelsa West, Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heinkein Lokpobiri, is providing adequate leadership for the party. It was gathered that aside from Seles Saboh, a foot soldier of Sylva who has left for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the party is still very intact under the control of Lokpobiri.
According to multiple political sources in the Senatorial District, the APC is poised to clear the elections in the area for President Tinubu and all other candidates. Pundits maintained that Lokpobiri buoyed by the massive support of several APC leaders who have closed ranks, is battle-ready to deliver 100 percent for APC in the area.
In Bayelsa East, the most influential political figure remains former President Goodluck Jonathan. In and out of office, Jonathan commands tremendous goodwill and respect in Bayelsa East, especially in Ogbia. His close relationship with the APC-led government in the state has given the APC an edge.
His recent endorsement of APC candidates for the national and House of Assembly elections is a big boost that has overshadowed Sylva’s exit from the APC.
More so, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), HRM Samuel Ogbuku, is fully on the ground to ensure all the votes in Ogbia are delivered to the APC.
Ogbuku, who is believed to have inherited Sylva’s political structure, has, through his superlative performance, given the APC an unassailable lead in Ogbia even before the first ballot is cast. He remains a rallying force for APC in Ogbia, and his grassroots appeal would neutralise opposition forces.
Also, in Bayelsa East, the Managing Director of Labrador Security Services and Kojo Sam Logistics, Dr Kojo Sam, has sustained grassroots support for the APC in the Nembe axis and Okpoama, which is Sylva’s enclave.
Kojo Sam recently, during a consultative visit by the APC leadership in the state, led by its Chairman, Hon. Warman Ogoriba, pledged his unalloyed loyalty to the APC, promising to deliver 100 percent for President Tinubu.
He explained that his support for the APC, which dates back to its formation in 2013, is predicated on the ideals and ideological direction of the party, which is geared towards improving the lives of Nigerians.
Kojo dismissed efforts of opposition parties to make inroads in Bayelsa East, stressing that the people of Bayelsa East, especially in Nembe and Brass, are in full support of President Tinubu’s re-election.
In Bayelsa Central, comprising Southern Ijaw, Yenagoa, and Kolokuma/ Opokuma Local Government Areas, Sylva has not been able to influence any major stakeholder to dump the APC and follow him. Rather, the party is waxing stronger with the support of the governor, the party chairman, Hon. Ogoriba, and several others.
As permutations for 2027 continue, there is no evidence to support any adverse effect on the APC following Sylva’s exit from the party. From all indications, Sylva’s decision to dump the APC was a solo effort and did not take into consideration his larger political family, many of whom have elected to remain in the APC and deliver votes for the party in the 2027 elections.
