Bayelsa governorship candidate, Timi Alaibe has pulled out from the race the the top position in Bayelsa State.
Alaibe, a former executive director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and presidential advisor to late President Musa Yar’adua made this disclose in a statement to Sahara Reporters, Wednesday, September 30, 2015.
Alaibe was running on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) whose primaries was marred by violence and was eventually cancelled by the party’s national leadership. His main opponent was Timipre Sylva, a former governor of Baylesa.
There are insinuations in political quarters that President Muhammadu Buhari prevailed on Alaibe to end his race for governor to pave way for Sylva who is seen has one of Buhari’s close allies. Buhari appointed Sylva as chairman of his inauguration committee and reportedly prevailed on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to withdraw fraud charges against him.
His full statement is below:
It is with all nostalgia that I recall the zeal, enthusiasm and hope with which thousands of Bayelsans made a statement in the direction of change in August, 2015. I can also vividly recall a mental replay of the occasion wherein a qualitative representation of the leadership of our great party, the All Progressives Congress ( APC) ushered in respected leaders and members from their then party, Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) .
That singular event has been phenomenal just as its true meaning and direction have all exuded confidence, unity of purpose, cohesion, collectivism and courage. That day undoubtedly marked the beginning of a people’s journey from hopelessness and quandary as enunciated by the accidental PDP-led government in Bayelsa state to that of quality leadership that an APC government will represent.
As one of such leaders who took that historic decision, I thought of giving a further bite to my burning desire to extricate the state from abysmal leadership failure. Therefore, my aspiration to be governor after series of consultations was to rekindle our collective hope and lift the state beyond its current state of decay under the PDP.
Regardless, I am not oblivious of the fundamental fact that we all need a virile, united, cohesive and collaborative APC to bring about our desires to fruition. Not only do we need this, APC deserves every sacrifice, including personal interests, to arrive at the envisaged destination come February, 2016.
This is more so that both as individual leaders and as a party, the need to avoid the a situation of crisis that the PDP might inadvertently reap from cannot be over emphasised.
As a result, having carefully examined the circumstances that have trailed the Governorship primaries of our great party in Bayelsa state, I have come to the conclusion that pushing my Governorship ambition beyond this point carries alongside it some collateral consequences.
Succinctly, two options are available to me. Whereas I am confident that I have the required support of my admirers and supporters as well as the needed backing of Bayelsans to govern them, the hurdles set on the way of this noble project are seemingly tempestuous and capable of overheating the APC in Bayelsa.
In another vein, the virtuous path to take is that virtuous one in which personal interest are sacrificed for the common good,whether for the APC or the state in general. This is the path I chose in the light of the prevailing circumstances. I therefore withdraw from the governorship primary contest.
This decision is taken in the interest of our party especially as we face the task of the common challenge of unseating the PDP in the state come December 5.
