The immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Slyva, has said that serial blackmailers are on the loose with campaigns of calumny against him because of his governorship ambition.
Sylva who recently resigned his ministerial appointment to contest the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa, said the blackmailers have intensified their attacks, falsely accusing him of all sorts of misdemeanour, including falsification of certificate.
In a statement signed by Mr. Horatius Egua, his Senior Adviser on Media and Communications, the former Bayelsa governor noted that the intention of the sponsored attacks is to dampen the political enthusiasm and verve with which he entered the Bayelsa guber race.
He particularly accused a former Deputy National Spokesman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Timi Frank of leading the pack of his adversaries to tarnish his image and paint him bad before the Bayelsa electorates.
Sylva said: “Since emerging as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Gubernatorial candidate for Bayelsa State, a certain Timi Frank, a political prostitute and jobber has been busy making unsubstantiated allegation, doing the bidding of his pay master.
“Through his attention seeking and imbecilic allegations, he has thrown overboard decency and resorted to gutter tactics in confusing the ordinary person on the street.
“On the alleged use of multiple names by Chief Timipre Sylva, recalled that a Federal High Court, in Abuja, in 2023 dismissed the alleged certificate forgery case filed by the Transparency Advocacy for Development Initiative, TADI, against Chief Timipre Sylva.
“The court in a copy of its ruling dated March 8th dismissed the matter following an application by the lawyer to the plaintiff, Edward Onaga, seeking the withdrawal of the case”.
The statement further said Sylva has already sworn an affidavit in respect of the identity issue and has gone ahead to do a Deed Poll, which has already been gazetted. So all legal processes have been duly followed.
“So for anyone to impute that Chief Sylva did not go to school or falsified his certificate is a clear demonstration of a man who suffers from memory loss. It’s only an imbecile that can concort such mischievous and misleading information to sell to the public.
“Anyone who is in doubt about Chief Sylva’s academic qualifications or certification can also go to the University of Port Harcourt where he graduated in 1986. His classmates are everywhere in NIgeria. Rotimi Amaechi former Minister of Transportation is one of his classmates and the Abia State Governor-elect who is the current president of the University Of Port Harcourt Alumni was a year behind Chief Sylva, at the university.
“These unfounded allegations against Chief Sylva are clearly borne out of the minds of those elements who could do nothing to halt the impending move to take Bayelsa state from those who have kept the state on its kneels in the last decade.
“Chief Sylva has resolved not to be intimidated or blackmailed into buckling down because of any sponsored falsehood and harassment from any quarters”, it added.