We have read the recklessly-worded statement of the former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in which he cast aspersions on the Nigerian judiciary.
In the terse but indecorous statement, Sylva claimed Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, routinely travels to Abuja in order to “induce judiciary characters in light of the ongoing court (of Appeal) case.”
Sylva was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11, 2023 governorship poll in the state and an opponent of Governor Diri.
Unfortunately, since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Diri winner of that election, a declaration that was affirmed by the state election petition tribunal, Sylva has been acting like an entitled child deprived of an imaginary birthright.
Instead of accepting defeat in an election acknowledged by the national leadership of his party as fair, and credible and was lost by the APC, Sylva lays claim to a non-existent stolen mandate. Besides disrespecting his party in a vain pursuit, he has kept disrespecting the judiciary.
Governor Diri chose not to ignore Sylva’s ill-advised attack on an important arm of government because of his esteemed regard for the judiciary. Politics ought to be an arena of decency where the players must show utmost respect to the sacred institutions of the state and not denigrate them after losing the election.
Sylva also pretended to be concerned about the governor’s local and international trips.
It is either he is hypocritical or betrays an obvious poor understanding of governance for a man who governed the state for five years.
Here was a man who hardly stayed in Bayelsa when he was governor.
Under him, governance suffered as he engaged in endless parties and drinking binges inside the Government House. While he partied, his appointees were frustratingly kept waiting till midnight to have memos signed.
Sylva paid no attention to attracting investment to the state as he frittered away its resources at different nightclubs in either Yenagoa, Port Harcourt, Lagos, or Abuja almost every weekend.
It is important to remind the former governor that no serious occupant of such exalted office sits in his domain to attract private investors or investments. Such trips are necessary and important if our state is to change its developmental narrative. They are not a jamboree as the painstaking engagements bear results with time.
Bayelsa State will reap the good fruits of the Diri administration’s investment drive as the governor is sincere and laying a good foundation for the state’s sustainable economic growth and development.
Sylva’s desperation and thoughtless tirades will not deter the Diri administration.
