ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Saturday conducted a peaceful state congress to elect its 36 state Executive Committee members.
Mr Dennis Otiotio, a legal practitioner, emerged as chairman of the party.
But the APC faction led by former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, boycotted the exercise.
They cited the subsisting injunction before the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, as a reason for not holding their own congress.
The conduct of the state congress which was held at the state party secretariat on Mbiama-Yenagoa Road witnessed the presence of major stakeholders led by Senator Degi Eremienyo, two members of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Isreal Sunny-Goli and Hon. Preye Influence Oseke.
However, the Leader of the party in the state and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, was absent from the congress.
The Chairman of the seven-man State Congress Committee, DCP Yusuf Aurelius Adejo (rtd.), described the conduct of the congress as a family affair and peaceful.
Also speaking, the member representing Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency, Hon. Preye Oseke, commended the conduct of the exercise, predicting that the emergence of Otiotio as the party’s chair would lead to the emergence of a new APC and rejuvenated party in Bayelsa.
He said: “As a seasoned lawyer, politician and administrator, Otiotio will reach out to all stakeholders and carry them along in the affairs of the party. To those that are aggrieved in all states of the federation, I want to admonish them that APC is a grassroots, socialist and participatory party where the people matter than we that lead them.
“And I believe that with the people behind us, the APC will win the 2023 elections. In Bayelsa, we worked hard in 2019 and we won. Now that it later became a PDP state, we will not stop at winning the governorship election in 2023.”
However, at the factional secretariat of the APC located on Isaac Boro Road, it was observed that there was no parallel congress held as planned.
When contacted for comment, the State Chairman of the Senator Lokpobiri led faction, Fala Itubo, asked: “How can we conduct congresses when there is a subsisting court injunction? Do you remember what happened in Rivers State? We don’t want to make that same mistake.
“As for the reconciliation committee set up by our party leadership at the national level, whatever they want to do must not be about the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and Senator Lokpobiri alone, but should involve all stakeholders of the party. I wish to appeal to all party faithful to remain calm.”
A chairmanship candidate in the Lokpobiri camp, Chief Peres Peretu, said “we met and thought it wise not to go ahead with the congresses because of the subsisting injunction. For all I know, the other party is disobeying the court order.”
Also, a chieftain of the party, Hon. Sunday Frank-Oputu explained that the refusal of the party to conduct a parallel congress was due to a subsisting court order.
He said: “When we appeared in court, counsel for the other faction claimed that they have not conducted any Ward or Local Government congresses. So, if they have not done so, where did they get the delegates voting at the state congress they are conducting?
“We have evidence of that brief where their counsel made those claims. And the appeal court has asked both parties to return to court on the 19th October, 2021 for hearing. For that reason, we have decided to put off the congresses.”