Simon Utebor September 18, 2023

The immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has accused Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri of recruiting spies to monitor his movements.

Sylva, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11 governorship election in the state, made the accusation in a statement on Sunday, September 17, through his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru.

He claimed that credible intelligence available to him indicated that the spies operating across the state, especially the Bayelsa International Cargo Airport were asked to document and report his movements in the state to some off-grid security architecture in Bayelsa.

The former governor said the spy activities were being coordinated by a close security aide to Governor Diri with the aim of compromising his convoy.

He called on 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.

He said any serving governor hoping for reelection adopts the strategy of commissioning and inaugurating projects to convince the people but that Diri had resorted to desperation, violence and underhand practices following his failure in office.

The statement said: “Credible reports available to H.E Chief Timipre Sylva, governorship candidate of the APC in Bayelsa State suggests that Governor 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 Governor 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, especially the security agencies across the nation, to take note of 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, is 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 the accusation, Governor Douye Diri said Sylva was only crying wolf where none existed, contending that Sylva was the one planning what he was accusing him of.

The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said Sylva is a drowning man seeking claws to hang on to or trying to make excuses for his failed governorship project.

He reiterated that Sylva’s rejection by his party chieftains, his Nembe/Brass people and indeed the Bayelsa electorate is total.

The statement read: “Governor Douye Diri is a well-known pacifist and an advocate of politics without bitterness. He 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.”