Bayelsa guber: I'm still in the race under PDP ' Sylva

Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva yesterday dismissed last Thursday's announcement by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it had submitted the name of Henry Seriake Dickson to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its gubernatorial candidate for February 11, 2012 governorship election as a charade whose product cannot stand.Sylva said the submission of Dickson's name and that of his running mate Rear Admiral John Gboribiogha Jonah (rtd) to INEC is a non-issue, adding that the party's decision does not change his commitment to the governorship race.In a statement through his Chief Press Secretary Mr. Doifie Ola, Sylva questioned the basis on which INEC could accept a candidate from the 19 November primary in Bayelsa State, saying, 'Even though INEC has not announced a shift in its well advised rejection of the November 19 charade, it is only instructive to warn that INEC, a critical institutional bulwark against political arbitrariness, must resist the temptation to be drawn into the mucky waters of autocratic partisanship, which those who nurse a morbid fear for democracy and free choice have reduced the Bayelsa governorship race to.'The embattled governor appealed to his supporters to remain calm and positive, expressing confidence in the ability of the judiciary to return sanity to the political situation in Bayelsa State.The governor also said: 'This unfortunate decision of the PDP is condemnable in every democratic sense. But it is all part of a serial illegality that began since preparation for the governorship election in the state gathered momentum and reached a frightening height with a 19 November primary held against the order of a competent court of law, the wise counsel of a wide segment of civilised humanity within and outside Nigeria, and despite the absence of INEC, the body statutorily mandated to monitor and confer legitimacy on such exercises.He said he and his deputy, Werinipre Seibarugu, remain committed to the February 2012 governorship contest in Bayelsa State under the Peoples Democratic Party. 'We are confident that the truth will emerge at the end of the day and, by the grace of God and the will of the people, we will be re-elected.
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