FEBRUARY 5, 2012 BY MIKE ODIEGWU
The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the February 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State has snowballed into a verbal war between President Goodluck Jonathan and the deposed Governor of the state, Mr. Timipre Sylva.
Apparently angry at the comments of Jonathan against him and his administration during a rally organised by PDP on Friday, Sylva in a daring move on Saturday said the President "goofed and told lies."
Jonathan in the rally had accused Sylva of poor performance, claiming that the former governor was once stoned during one of his presidential visits by protesters who were angry at the lack of development in the state.
The President specifically accused Sylva of abandoning a five-star Tower Hotel project at the level he (Jonathan) left it as the governor, adding that the project had become a monumental disgrace to the state.
But in a swift reaction, Sylva, in a statement signed by his media aide, Mr. Doifie Ola, which was made available to our correspondent in Yenagoa, said it was sad that Jonathan would publicly justify stone-throwing which he said was carried out by a few misguided elements.
He said Jonathan's statements on Friday had confirmed the speculations that the president was the brain behind his travails and his disqualification from contesting the party primary on November 19, 2011.
He said if stone throwing was an indication of non-performance, the president had fallen short of international standard as he was stoned by protesters in Uganda.
He said, "The world now knows better. Everyone is now perfectly well aware of the mastermind of that insult on the Ijaw nation. But let us state that it was not the governor who was disgraced by the stoning. Instead, it was the president himself.
"Now, if stoning is a yardstick for non-performance, are we also right to say that the burning down of the president's house in 2007, in the run-up to that year's general elections, was also an act of rejection by the people of the state?
"A lot of people believed that the burning of his house and the action of militants in 2007 were an expression of rejection. Is the president now confirming that wide belief? In addition, can we also say that the stoning of President Jonathan in May last year in Uganda was a global act of rejection?"
Sylva further said it was after the stoning incident in Yenagoa in late 2010 that the president came back to Yenagoa, raised his (Sylva's) hands in public and spoke glowingly about his achievements.
"It was after the stoning that he came back and voted in the January 2011 PDP governorship primaries and gave a glowing report of Sylva's performance. So what suddenly changed from January 2011 to later that year when President Jonathan manipulated all the institutions of state, including the armed and security forces, the judiciary and critical organs of democracy like the political parties leaving the security and economic challenges which he faced, to embark on Operation Remove Sylva as the sole mandate which the people of Nigeria gave to him?" the ex-governor said.
On the hotel project, Sylva said the president's comments were "barefaced lies and misrepresentation of open facts."
The statement said in part, "Sylva agrees that the job has been delayed, but explains that the reason it has been delayed is because the contractor, whom Jonathan himself chose and awarded the contract to, asked for a variation of N5bn.
"Let Jonathan tell the world how much he paid this contractor and how much Sylva has paid the contractor. Far more than Jonathan's tenure, Sylva has performed given the challenges he faced. It is unfortunate that President Jonathan could have such a disgraceful outing last Friday."
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