5 Reasons Why Timipre Sylva Emerged APC Governorship Candidate in Bayelsa
On Friday, April 14, Timipre Sylva emerged as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa state.
Sylva, the immediate past minister of state for petroleum resources, secured 52,061 to defeat five other contestants.
Source: Facebook
Joshua Machiver got 2,078, Festus Danumiebi 557, Maureen Etebu 1,277, David Lyon 1,584, and Isikima Johnson 584 votes.
Sylva, 58, was the governor of the south-south state between 2007 to 2012.
In this piece, Legit.ng lists five reasons he emerged as the APC governorship candidate in the oil-rich state.
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1. Deep pocket
As a former junior minister of petroleum resources and governor of the state, Sylva has the financial capabilities to secure APC delegates’ votes and challenge incumbent Duoye Diri in the forthcoming election.
It is expected to be fireworks in the November contest as Sylva can match his opponent regarding the resources needed to prosecute the election.
2. Political profile
By his political profile in Bayelsa, Sylva is the state’s APC leader. He is a former governor and, until his resignation, the highest-ranking APC official in Bayelsa. It is only expected that most party delegates will be loyal to him.
The former minister has cemented his place as the party’s most prominent figure in the last few years, and it worked for him in the primary election.
3. Possible federal backing
There are rumours that Sylva got the backing of the who-is-who within the ruling party at the national level. This is expected as Sylva has funded the party in Bayelsa and remained consistent in the party since his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He is also one of the respected party leaders in the south-south zone, not forgetting that he has influenced the federal appointments of party members in the state too.
4. Political associate of president-elect
Sylva’s closeness to the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is an open secret. When he was hounded out of the PDP, the former minister pitched his tent with the then Action Congress of Nigeria, a party funded by Tinubu, which later collapsed into the mega APC merger in 2015.
Since moving to ACN, Sylva has maintained a cordial relationship with the president-elect, which insiders say has paved the way for him to get the nod of party leaders in Bayelsa and beyond.
5. David Lyon’s diminishing influence
Before the primary election, there were predictions that Sylva’s main challenger would be David Lyon.
Lyon was the governorship candidate of the APC in the 2019 gubernatorial election. He was declared the winner of the election, but a day before his swearing-in, his emergence was invalidated by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Many expected him to put up a strong show in the recent primary election, but he came a distant third. His loss is Sylva’s gain.
Off-cycle elections: APC submits list of candidates for Imo, Bayelsa, Kogi governorship polls
Meanwhile, the APC has submitted its list of flagbearers for the off-cycle 2023 gubernatorial polls in Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo states to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The list was submitted to the electoral commission on Monday, April 17, as part of the guidelines in the build-up to the election.
It contained the name of Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo state, who won the primary election in a landslide fashion and two other candidates.
Source: Legit.ng
Jerrywright Ukwu Jerrywright Ukwu is an Abuja-based senior political/defence correspondent. He is a graduate of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos and the International Institute of Journalism in Abuja. He is also a member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. He spends his leisure-time reading history books. He can be reached via email at jerrywright39@yahoo.com.
Nurudeen Lawal (Head of Politics and Current Affairs Desk) Nurudeen Lawal is an AFP-certified journalist with a wealth of experience spanning over 8 years. He received his B/Arts degree in Literature-in-English from OAU. Lawal is the Head of the Politics/CA Desk at Legit.ng, where he applies his expertise to provide incisive coverage of events. He was named the Political Desk Head of the Year (Nigeria Media Nite-Out Award 2023). He is also a certified fact-checker (Dubawa fellowship, 2020). Contact him at lawal.nurudeen@corp.legit.ng or +2347057737768.
