Sylva blasts PDP, says party action illegal

Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State has described the submission of names of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates for the February 2012 governorship election to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a non-issue.

Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Prof Rufai Ahmed Alkali, announced that the PDP had submitted the names of Henry Seriake Dickson and Rear Admiral John Jonah as governorship candidate and running mate to INEC had advised Sylva to stop disturbing himself as the party would never present him as its candidate.

Sylva, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ola Doifie said the party’s decision did not change his commitment to the governorship race and the reality that the PDP was engaged in a charade whose product cannot stand.
According to him, he and his deputy, Werinipre Seibarugu were in court challenging the legality of the November 19 governorship primary election, adding that he was confident that at the end of the day, they would stand election on the platform of the party and be re-elected by Bayelsans.

He warned INEC to “resist the temptation to be drawn into the mucky waters of autocratic partisanship.” While he appealed to his supporters to remain calm, noting that “we are confident in the ability of the judiciary to return sanity to the political situation in our state, so that together again we shall continue the patriotic task of taking our state to the next level.”

The statement reads in part: “This unfortunate decision of the PDP is condemnable in every democratic sense. But it is all part of a serial illegality that began since the preparation for the governorship election in the state gathered momentum and reached a frightening height with the November 19 primary held against the order of a competent court of law, the wise counsel of a wide segment of civilized humanity within and outside Nigeria and despite the absence of INEC, the body statutorily mandated to monitor and confer legitimacy on such exercises.”

-Sunwp_posts