The chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tiwei Orunimighe, has accused former governor Timipre Sylva of selling federal government appointments.
In statement made to journalists in Abuja, Mr. Orunmighe said, “We also want to call on the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri, to resign his appointment, the reason being that he paid for his ministerial position. I also believe, and those of us standing here know very well, that he is not a member of the party,” he said
According to Saharareporters, Eddy Julius, the deputy chairman of the State party, said, “Sylva is not a sincere person and dubious to all that work we did for the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
Mr. Sylva was also condemned for allegedly sidelining the party leadership.
Reacting to these allegations, eleven out of the fourteen members of the State Working Committee of the APC in Bayelsa State dismissed the claims against Mr. Sylva as “frivolous” and “a sponsored campaign” against Mr. Sylva by some aggrieved members of the party.
Tonye Okio, the Organizing Secretary of the APC, and Israel Sunny-Igoli, a State House of Assembly member, dismissed the claims against Mr. Sylva and insisted that the party has summoned those involved in making the allegations for appropriate disciplinary action.
“Chairman Orunimighe and his cohorts have made many mistakes in the past, but this unfounded claim against the former governor is the greatest of all,” Mr. Sunny-Igoli said.
He further stated, “Chief Tiwei Orunimigha is greedy and his time is up. Before the governorship election, an ex-militant leader from Rivers State confirmed to us that our party chairman was the mole in our midst and all party strategies were known to Governor Dickson. But because the election was at the door, we could not do anything.”
“The aggrieved members led by Chief Tiwei Orunimighe demanded the Executive Secretary position of the Local Content Board but Chief Sylva turned him down because he was not qualified and the State had many other qualified persons to fill the position. He then ran out and made theses frivolous accusations,” according to Mr. Sunny-Igoli.
He added that the party is seeking disciplinary action against Mr. Orunimighe.
Mr. Okio, in a separate statement, stated that “the allegation is baseless, unfounded and the people of the State should disregard it. The action of the embattled State chairman was done out of greed and an insatiable quest to grab juicy positions like the Executive Secretary of the Local Content Development and Monitoring Board.”
