Former Petroleum Minister Timipre Sylva has vehemently condemned Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri’s directive to prosecute him over the death of George Sibo during the last governorship election.
Sylva’s response follows Diri’s announcement at Sibo’s burial on Thursday, where he ordered the state Attorney-General to initiate legal proceedings against Sylva and others allegedly involved in storming the collation center.
Diri alleged that the 31-year-old George Sibo was killed when Timipre Sylva, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the November 11 governorship poll, led his party members and supporters to invade the collation centre and held INEC officials hostage.
The governor expressed sadness over the dastardly killing of the young man and promised that the state government would bring the culprits to book.
Sylva, in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media, Julius Bokoru, said the directive, which Diri gave to his attorney-general, had shown the governor’s desperation to deploy diversionary tactics and distractions against his case at the Appeal Court.
The statement said: “Chief Sylva is curious at what Diri’s apparent desperation can push him to. It is clear this recent effort is a symptom of fear, shortly after Diri tried to conjure some phantom EFCC case against Sylva he devised a new method of distraction which, of course, is dead on arrival.
“Sylva knows nothing of the murder of George Sibo, an illustrious and promising youth of the state, it is important to note that by the time the young man died, Sylva was well out of the Island.”
The statement alleged that Diri had continued to spend huge amounts of taxpayers’ money on heavy propaganda to distract Sylva’s focus on his case.
The statement further said: “It is clear that this is fear, anxiety and everything to distract Chief Sylva after his attempt to bring up EFCC issues failed in the wake of a long and relentless string of propaganda against Chief Sylva with taxpayer’s monies.
“It is clear that any attempt to drag Chief Sylva into this issue is either inspired by fear and anxiety or by a thoroughly jaundiced mindset.
“Everything imaginable has been put in Sylva’s way to distract him. After Diri’s attempt to bring up phantom EFCC issues failed. After the endless and relentless string of propaganda failed against Chief Sylva. Now this.”
The statement also stated: “Chief Sylva, concerned Bayelsans and the APC are trying everything within the law to get a stolen mandate back. Until justice is done, Diri’s Governorship remains illegitimate in the minds of every sincere Bayelsan and every sincere person of goodwill.”
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