Monday 7 November 2011

why, Jonathan cancelled trip to Bayelsa

BAYELSA State Governor Timipre Sylva may have finally decided to take the case of his second term ticket to God in the face of uncertainty surrounding his clearance by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Today in Yenagoa, the state capital, Sylva and his supporters will meet at the Peace Park to offer prayers to God.

“We have satisfied ourselves that we have done everything humanly possible and at this point, only God can intervene. We have not given up, but it is important that we take the matter to God,” sources close to the governor told The Guardian last night.

In the meantime, President Goodluck Jonathan’s last minute decision to abort his planned trip to Bayelsa to attend his younger brother’s wedding at the weekend in order to sympathise with the victims of the bombings in some parts of the North, has continued to attract attention.

Despite the explanation of the Presidency, it was learnt that President Jonathan actually stayed away to avoid the ambush of the various lobby groups seeking his attention and endorsement in the PDP primary.

The sources said: “It is not true to say that President Jonathan stayed away because of Sylva, just because he has not been cleared yet. People forget that the President and the governor were together the night before the planned trip.

“The point is that the President is under pressure from every aspirant. All the camps want his attention and every camp wanted him to come to town. Even those that believe that the President has endorsed them would have wanted him to make a public display of that endorsement.”


It was learnt that most of the aspirants and interest groups had positioned themselves to catch the attention of President Jonathan had he kept his schedule and visited the state.

In the absence of the President, the groups had besieged the residence of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who had been in the state for three days ahead of the aborted visit by the President.

She was reportedly holding talks with members of the camp of one of the governorship aspirants at Otueke, in Ogbia, when the state governor arrived at the venue of the meeting. After keeping him waiting while she attended to those before the governor, the First Lady eventually met with the governor. The details of their meeting were not made public.

Meanwhile, optimism is high in the governor’s camp as they look forward to his clearance being sorted out after the public holidays.
A PDP chieftain and an avid supporter of Sylva, who pleaded anonymity, said that “it is not true to say that the President is against or for Sylva. The only truth is that the governor has not got the nod to contest in the primary. We all know that there are issues and until those issues are cleared, nothing will be certain. Those issues will be cleared; it is only to resolve those issues. Almost everyone now in the country knows that there are issues to be resolved in the PDP primaries in Bayelsa.”
source Guardain

No comments:

Post a Comment