Bayelsa governor, Douye Diri and the candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC in the state’s November 11, 2023 governorship election, Timipre Sylva, are engaged in a war of words over alleged deployment of spies.
Sylva, a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources had in a statement on Sunday accused Diri of deploying spies to monitor his movement ahead of the governorship election.
Sylva who is also a former governor of the state, leveled the allegation against Diri in a statement issued through his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru.
The former minister said he got to know about the deployment of spies to monitor his movement through ‘credible intelligence.’
He claimed the spies were deployed across the state, especially at the Bayelsa International Cargo Airport to document and report his movements to ‘off-grid security architecture’ in the state.
According to him, a security aide of Governor Diri is coordinating the activities of the spies with the aim of compromising his convoy.
Slyva said security agencies and members of the public should take note of Diri’s strategy of violence against him and the people of Bayelsa with special focus on Opu-Nembe.
He accused Diri of resorting to desperation, violence and underhand practices to cover up his failure as governor instead of commissioning projects to enhance his chances of reelection.
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 a 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.”
However, Diri in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, alleged that the accusation was part of the excuses by Sylva his failed governorship project.
According to him, Sylva has been rejected by chieftains of his party, his Nembe/Brass people and indeed the entire Bayelsa electorate.
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.”
credit:PM News
