The governorship ambition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Timipre Sylva, received a boost on Tuesday, October 24, as the council of chiefs from Nembe and Brass local government areas of Bayelsa State endorsed his candidacy.
The endorsement of the immediate former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources took place at a press conference held in Yenagoa by 14 councils of chiefs comprising 400 chiefs from Nembe and Brass LGAs.
The chiefs that attended the conference were from the Brass Council of Chiefs, Okoroma Council of Chiefs, Egweama Chiefs Council, Okoroba Chiefs Council, Odioma Chiefs Council, Okpoama Kingdom Chiefs Council, Opu-Nembe Chiefs Council, Nembe City Chiefs Council, Akassa Council of Chiefs, among others.
Addressing journalists after the conference of the Council of Chiefs, the chairman, of Opu-Nembe Council of Chiefs, Chief Yousuo Donald Theo-Iruo, said they met to chart a political course for the people of the two LGAs.
Theo-Iruo said their meeting was a fruitful and successful one among themselves and they had decided to make a political statement whereby they would all go back to their communities and councils to direct their people on the way to go.
He stated that in respect of the forthcoming governorship election on November 11, it had become imperative for the councils in the two LGAs of Nembe-speaking ethnic nationality to make a statement and direct their people on whom to vote for.
Theo-Iruo said: “We are about four hundred (400) chiefs of delegation basis that attended the conference and these are what we have decided to go back to our various councils to implement.
“The entire Nembe and Brass LGAs want to endorse and affirm that the chiefs councils in Nembe and Brass have decided to adopt, affirm and endorse His Excellency Timpre Marlin Sylva as the candidate for these two LGAs.
“We have made this affirmation that we will all go back to our communities where councils domicile to ensure that Timipre Sylva is elected. There is no alternative to Sylva as far as these councils are concerned. We believe that in Timipre Sylva, councils across these two local governments and the people of these areas will have a face in the governance of our state.
“In Sylva, we also strongly believe that the dividends of democracy will go round to all the nooks and crannies of Bayelsa State, not only the Nembe-speaking people.
“We also want to reaffirm our strong belief and conviction in Timipre Sylva because having known him in his first tenure when he was the governor, we strongly believe that for now he is more experienced, more exposed, more connected and we believe that he would take us to Bayelsa of our dream where equity, fairness and justice will be the order of the day in the state.”
“We strongly believe that Sylva has the right connections, right exposure and he will be the man to beat in this forthcoming election.
“So, today, the respected chiefs of this Nembe-speaking people have decided to speak in one voice. Apart from that, we will direct, coordinate, and ensure that our people know the way to go by voting en masse for Sylva.”
Theo-Iruo added: “We stand with Timipre Sylva for the coming poll. We want to see that we are connected to the nation through him.
“We can’t exist in isolation from the national politics and the only sure bet that will give us this status as a people and as Nigerians is Timipre Sylva. This is our mission and we must work to achieve it to ensure that the people’s candidate triumphs.”
