…APC remains party on ground
By Danlami Nmodu
The All Progressives Congress(APC) is the party on ground in Bayelsa State. This declaration was made by Timipre Sylva, the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the forthcoming election.
Sylva made this assertion Tuesday in Abuja after visiting President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa.
He said “you know also in 2019 we won the election. The governor that is there today is a governor that won only two local governments in that election.
“But unfortunately, you know what happened. Even previously in 2015, we won the election. The Southern Ijaw results were canceled and (when) redone and of course, you know what took place at a time. So we are fully on ground. APC is the party on ground in Bayelsa state. And I can assure you that we can do it again and we will do it again.”
Sylva is running against incumbent Governor Diri of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
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An upbeat Sylva said, “We are set to take over Bayelsa and I had to inform Mr. President what we’re doing and also take advice from Mr. President.”
Explaining why he visited the president, he said, “It was an opportunity to commend Mr President for a great job he’s doing.
“I know that for a long time, every administration, every government in Nigeria have been trying to remove the fuel subsidy.
“We attempted it even during our time. And it was actually part of the campaign of every presidential election in the previous election in the past election.
“But for Mr. president to have achieved this feat on the first day of his presidency, it’s quite commendable. We’ve seen a lot happening in the monetary policy sector. We also commend him for what you’re doing.
“I thought it was important that some of us will see him and let him know the great things he is doing.
Sylva, a former minister of state petroleum resources added, “For the first time in Nigeria, states and federal government are to share N1.9 trillion. It is unprecedented.
“I believe that we are on the verge of an economic turnaround in this country, and going by the American parlance: “Is the economy, stupid?”
“We need a president who understands the economy and I believe that we have one now. That’s really part of what we discussed.
“And secondly, I had to also discuss the progress we’re making in Bayelsa. You’ll know that I am the Bayelsa candidate governorship in the forthcoming governorship election on the 11th of November.
Sylva said Bayelsa can rest assured that his government will hit the ground running as he moves to implement his six-point agenda when elected
Hear Sylva, “Well, you know, I have been a governor, and I’ve been part of the politics of Bayelsa from inception. So I know Bayelsa and Bayelsa knows me.
“Bayelsans expect a lot from me now. I’ve been in Bayelsa and they know what we achieved during that time. This time, I’m going back to Bayelsa. I have four years. So very short term, as you know.
So we have to hit the ground running.
“So I have a six point agenda this time.
“First point of the agenda is human capital development including education, which is very important. We need to really develop the capacity of our people.
“The second point of the agenda is infrastructure. We really need in Bayelsa state.
“Third point of the agenda is to develop an economy for Bayelsa. And for Bayelsa we believe that the economy that can easily be developed is a gas economy. Because we are sitting on the highest deposit of gas in Nigeria.
“Fourth point in the agenda is agriculture and in agriculture we are not going to also be trying everything, we’re going to concentrate on rice production. As you know, rice goes well in the swamps and Bayelsa has a lot of swamps as you know. We have Peremadi rice project which was actually designed to produce rice for the whole of Nigeria and West Africa. But it’s been abandoned.
So Bayelsa is actually within the rice belt. We are definitely going to become the biggest rice producer in Nigeria because we have that comparative advantage. And then of course in agriculture we’re looking at also fishery.
“The fifth point of the agenda will be to stabilize power because you know that if you want to grow an economy you need to stabilize power.
“In my previous incarnation in Bayelsa, I was already on course to stabilize power in Bayelsa before I left. Unfortunately, they took it back 360 degrees.
“We must stabilize power in Bayelsa working with the federal government and we have the gas to fire the power sector.
“Then the sixth point of the agenda is to ensure that there is security. We’re gonna hit the ground running and I can assure you linking up with the great things that are going to be achieved from the federal side and with what you can see, I believe that the glory days of Bayelsa is just around the corner, just like the glory days of Nigeria, also around the corner.”
