2012 guber poll: Plot to stop Imoke, Sylva thickens

Posted by admin Bayelsa, Cross River, State News Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

Barring last minute change of mind by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), two of its state governors currently enjoying tenure extension courtesy of an Appeal Court order may not seek re-election. The governors are Liyel Imoke of Cross River State and his Bayelsa counterpart, Timipre Sylva.

The appellate court had extended the tenure of the two governors and three of their counterparts – Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Magatarkada Wamakko (Sokoto) to 2012 when it said their four-year tenure would end.
The ruling was against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) decision to conduct elections in the affected states in April 2011.

Party sources in Port Harcourt and Yenagoa however hinted of deft strategies to dump Imoke and Sylva.
This is partly induced by the fear within PDP that the judgment of the Supreme Court on an appeal filed by INEC against the extension order scheduled for October 13 may not favour the party.

Feelers from a recent meeting of some party stalwarts in one of the affected two South South states indicated anxiety that the stay of the five governors after May 29, this year, when their first tenure ought to have ended could be deemed illegal and with dire consequences if the apex Court rules against them
Sources hinted that the camps of the governors have been thrown into disarray following unconfirmed but strong hints that the PDP national secretariat might frustrate the governors’ bid for a second term.
The recent introduction of “re-validation of membership” by the party’s leadership is strongly suspected to be a ploy to open its doors to new members and enable the return of prized former members that had abandoned the PDP ship.

The general feeling in the governors camps is that the re-validation exercise was embarked upon in search of possible replacements for them from the group of returnees and new comers.
Sources cited unfolding events in Kogi as a pointer to what is in the offing.
Also, in Bayelsa, there are speculations that the likes of former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe, who dumped the PDP for Labour Party might be on his way back to the ruling party.

Within PDP, no fewer than five party stalwarts are being bandied as eyeing Sylva’s seat. They include Petroleum Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, a member of the House of Representatives, Chief Seriaki Dickson, and the chairman of Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority, Chief Turner.

If the governor’s camp had any doubt about the rumoured plot, the recent disbandment of the dreaded security outfit in the state, Operation Famou Tangbei, supposedly on the orders of the Inspector General of Police following general complaints of alleged extra-judicial killings and intimidation, suggest a tacit move to whittle the governor’s power and influence.

-Sunwp_posts