FURTHER details emerged, at the weekend, that the decision of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to shove aside Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State was as a result of the anger against the governor by elders in the state.Sources confirmed, on Sunday, in Abuja, that elders within the PDP in the state had, on several occasions, reported the governor to all concerned but that the governor refused to turn over a new leaf.The source said that the PDP would have been unable to shove the governor aside if the elders had been divided.A source said: 'The defeat of Governor Sylva was orchestrated by Bayelsa elders. Two weeks ago, they issued a statement calling on the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) to steer clear of the Bayelsa gubernatorial issue. They also restated their opposition to the governor, while they absolved President Goodluck Jonathan of any wrongdoing or serious involvement in Sylva's travails.'The question you should ask is where the Alamieyeseighas of this world are in this matter. What is the position of the real stakeholders of Bayelsa in Sylva's travails' The truth is that the elders are united in opposing him.'The source further said that when the elders grew tired of complaining about Sylva's style and lack of development in the state, they decided to sponsor a number of candidates against him in the primary held in January but that President Jonathan prevailed on them to allow the governor pick the ticket.'The president had to practically beg his core loyalists, who were bent on contesting the January primary with the governor. Some National Assembly members were involved then and Jonathan talked them into dropping their ambitions. But things have changed and the elders were not convinced that Sylva was ready to turn over a new leaf,' a source, said.Some of the perceived sins of the governor, according to one source, include his failure to aggressively pursue developmental projects in the state and the alleged stalling of projects started in the tenure of his predecessors.A source also stated that Sylva showed a lot of disrespect to Jonathan as the vice-president, which was later hammered upon by the elders, who were said to have also recounted their ordeal at the hands of the governor.Meanwhile, the political imbroglio rocking the PDP in Bayelsa State took another dimension on Sunday as the state government ordered the immediate closure of both public and private schools for one week.The development, Nigerian Tribune, learnt, might not be unconnected with the growing tension, occasioned by last Saturday's gubernatorial primary of the party in Yenagoa and the resumed hearing of the ex parte motion before a Federal High Court in Abuja, which granted an injunction to Governor Sylva restraining the PDP from going ahead with the exercise.According to a press statement signed by the state Commissioner for Education, Professor Tuemi Azuka, the public holiday for students, which begins today [Monday] affects both pupils in government and privately-owned primary and secondary schools, excluding undergraduates.
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