Timipre Sylva, the APC candidate and the former minister of state for petroleum, has no chance of winning the upcoming gubernatorial election in the state, according to Hon. Isreal Sunny-Goli, a leader in the party and a former lawmaker for the Nembe/Brass Federal Constituency.
Sunny-Goli, a significant APC supporter and steadfast ally of Sylva, refuted rumors that he would switch allegiance to the state’s dominant Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, and insisted that he would continue to be an APC member.
The former congressman told reporters in Yenagoa on Thursday that Governor Douye Diri of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is not going to be defeated by the former Sylva, who has been his principal for more than 20 years.
He said that though there are other members of the party that will support Sylvia,
“My interest is not in him. I pulled out, and it doesn’t mean the party will not conduct an election, so that tomorrow people will not take loyalty and support for granted.”
He said, “There are speculations about my political journey as we approach the November 11 Gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State. Some people said I would soon decamp to the PDP and abandon my party and principal, Timipre Sylva. So I feel there’s a need to clear the air on my decision. I am not decamping to the PDP.
“I have been a foundation member of the APC since 2014, and I was elected as a member of the House of Assembly to represent Brass Constituency 1, and thereafter elected as a member representing Nembe/Brass Federal Constituency. I am still a member and we will remain in the party.
“We just elected a new president of the country from our party, and I will continue to support him to succeed.
“I am monitoring the political events as the different candidates begin their campaigns to win the hearts of the people of Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva and the APC do not have the structure to win elections to defeat the incumbent governor of the state.
“Election victories are properly planned for, not in just three months, which is what he is doing. If the election is conducted today, Douye Diri will coast home to victory. He will win all eight local government areas by a landslide. We are all politicians, and we know what it takes to win an election.”