. He’s only crying wolf, raising false alarm, should be ignored – Gov’s spokesman
Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, on Sunday, accused Governor Douye Diri of recruiting spies to monitor his movement.
Sylva in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru, said credible intelligence available to him indicated that the spies operating across the state, especially the Bayelsa International Cargo Airport, were instructed to document and report his movements in the state to some off-grid security architecture in Bayelsa.
But Governor Diri, in a swift reaction by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, accused Sylva of crying wolf where none existed and merely raising a false alarm.
“But it is better to ignore the rantings of a drowning man seeking claws to hang on to or trying to make excuses for his failed governorship project. His rejection by his party chieftains, his Nembe/Brass people and indeed the Bayelsa electorate is total,” the governor’s CPS had said.
The former governor claimed that the spying activities were being coordinated by a close security aide of the governor with the aim of compromising his convoy.
He, therefore, appealed to security agencies and members of the public to take note of Diri’s strategy of violence against him and the people of Bayelsa with special focus on Opu-Nembe.
Sylva said instead of adopting the strategy of commissioning and inaugurating projects to convince the electorate, like other serving governors seeking re-election, Diri had resorted to desperation, violence and underhand practices following his failure in office.
His statement read, “Credible reports available to H.E Chief Timipre Sylva, Governorship Candidate of the APC in Bayelsa State suggests that Gov. Douye Diri has commissioned spies across the state, especially at the Bayelsa International Cargo Airport, to document and report Chief Sylva’s movements in Bayelsa and environs to some off-grid security architecture in the State.
“This desperate, illegitimate security operation is headed by a close security aide to Gov. Diri and the end game, as is known, is to compromise the convoy and security of Chief Sylva.
“This is to alert the general public and especially the security agencies across the nation to take note of Gov. Diri’s strategy of violence against Sylva and the Bayelsa people with special focus being Opu-Nembe.
“A serving Governor’s chief campaign strategy, naturally, was to reel out achievements and milestones, not investing in an orgy of violence. Diri should be commissioning projects, not commissioning spies.
“Sylva’s push to Creek Haven is an act of liberation and Bayelsans are massively aligned. The change is soon, the change is inevitable and the soul of Bayelsa state will be salvaged from the jaws of characters whose futile way of masking their inefficiency is violence”.
But in a swift reaction to Sylva’s allegation, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Daniel Alabrah, said Diri is a well-known pacifist and an advocate of politics without bitterness.
The CPS’ statement said, “He (Diri) has said he won’t spill blood to get re-elected into office.
“It is on record that for the first time in the history of elections in Bayelsa State, the February/March general election in the country was so peaceful in the state that there were no reported cases of bloodshed and killings unlike in the past.
“This was due to the governor’s peaceful disposition that has permeated the politics of the state. So, Chief Sylva is only crying wolf where there is none.
“Going by his antecedents, we believe he is the one planning what he is accusing the governor of.
“But it is better to ignore the rantings of a drowning man seeking claws to hang on to or trying to make excuses for his failed governorship project. His rejection by his party chieftains, his Nembe/Brass people and indeed the Bayelsa electorate is total.”