Former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, has again reiterated that the decision by former President Goodluck Jonathan to concede defeat was inevitable.
Sylva stated that the former president should not be accorded the status of hero of democracy, because it would have been suicidal for him not to concede defeat.
The former governor who spoke with journalists during a stopover in Yenagoa ahead of Sunday’s rescheduled House of Assembly elections in his community, Okpoama and Otuokpoti, said the decision by Jonathan to concede defeat should not be considered an achievement but an inevitable act from a defeated president.
He insisted that but for the resolute stance of Nigerians against any move to scuttle the outcome of the election, there were indications that attempts were made towards this.
“For me, conceding defeat is not an achievement. Let us take a look at the events. They tried everything to subvert and thwart. They tried to go to court to stop the announcement of the result. Even former minister, Godsday Orubebe, tried to stage a coup during the announcement to allow some paid ex-militants to invade the venue.
“They asked the former Inspector-General of Police to withdraw security from the venue to allow ex-militants invade the venue. When all these failed, what did you expect him to do? If the Super Eagles played a football match and were defeated, they now accepted defeat, is that an achievement?”
Sylva, who was stopped from contesting for the second term in office in 2011 by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) due to pressure from the former President Jonathan, said opined: “Seriously, if this is the level where Nigeria has descended to, it is a sorry state. We cannot be praising somebody for loosing in such manner. He (Jonathan) didn’t have any other choice whatsoever. What would he have done? To kill himself? Any other thing for Jonathan to do in Aso Rock would have been suicide, or self-destructive? At that point. Jonathan also knew it. What he should be saying is that at that point, he did not self-destruct. So he is now a hero? If one can be a hero so cheaply in Nigeria, then it is sad. For the APC, what we considered was that there is no need to rub the defeat in. The man is down and we decided to humour him out of office.”
Sylva, while commenting on the pressure from supporters and political associates to know if he is contesting the 2016 governorship said though the decision to contest is largely dependent on the leadership of the APC.
“Bayelsa should not be worried about whether I run or not. What they should be worried about is whether APC is fielding a candidate or not. It is not about me. It is about the APC. But you people (the media) should know that I am still eligible and qualified to contest under the law. But whether am running or not will be determined by the party. The APC will take the final decision. And whoever the party picks will win Bayelsa State.”
He said the ruling PDP in Bayelsa have lost its status and would soon be defeated in the forthcoming elections but assured the people that the intimidating status of the PDP has been reduced by the defeat of the party by the APC during the presidential elections.
“Let me tell you, the fear elements being used by the PDP is no longer there. Because Jonathan was an incumbent, there was fear but now, it is no longer there. And that is why there has been an upsurge in the support for the APC.
“It is the same thing Governor Seriake Dickson is experiencing. He is ruling the state with fear and intimidation. And when you rule by intimidating your people, then the loyalty is liable to break under any form of stress. That is what happened during slavery. And that is what happened with colonialism. Once you rule a people by fear and not love, it will break. The time for that loyalty to break is now. Today, I was in Otuokpoti community in Ogbia and I told them that the PDP is dead. You can continue to shift the date of the party’s burial forward.
“PDP has tried to postpone the date of funeral all the time. I said it that the PDP had postponed the funeral from 14th of February to March 28th but of what use was it. The party and the man are dead. So, it is evident that the PDP was dead on the 28th of March, 2015. They only shifted the funeral by some few weeks. The PDP is a dead party. And by whatever way, I don’t take anything into account because the party is dead. It is only the date of the funeral that has been shifted in Bayelsa again. When the date of the funeral is fixed, we shall invite you, the media to celebrate with the people of Bayelsa State and the APC.”
-Thisday
