FRESH facts emerged in Abuja on Thursday regarding why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is reluctant to clear Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State to contest the gubernatorial primary of the PDP in the state.Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that the national leadership of the party was deliberating procrastinating on the issue because the governor has allegedly been conducting himself in a manner that suggested that he could not subject himself to the control of the party.PDP sources indicated that the leadership wanted to send a warning signal to sitting governors that in spite of their powerful position, if they have reasons to disobey the wishes of the party, there are ways they would be checkmated.Before the gubernatorial election nomination process, Sylva had been involved in a running battle with the national leadership of the party culminating in the replacement of the chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of the party favoured by the governor.'What we are trying to do is to instil discipline in the party, so that you will not think that just because you are a governor, you will automatically get the ticket to re-contest and then do whatever you like,' a senior party member said.It was not clear at the time of this report whether the party would still clear Sylva to contest the primary, though there were unconfirmed reports that the party might have soft-pedalled on his case, as it also maintained that the clearance process was an ongoing affair.However, the PDP has rejected reports that members of its NWC collected a bribe of N500 million from the governor to clear him.The acting national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, at a press conference in Abuja, on Thursday, denied the allegation.According to him, 'we at the PDP, particularly the leadership, are used to this kind of blasphemy. We are not moved. On Kogi (primary) issue, they said that the chairman of the PDP received $8 million. It was circulated and they mentioned some members of NWC that also got $60 million. This kind of story is a fallacy. It is not true, it is totally mischievous.'Nigerian Tribune also gathered that former Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Timi Alaibe, who recently returned to the PDP from the Labour Party (LP), had not been granted waiver to contest the primary, because he 'bungled' the process of obtaining the waiver at the party zonal level.It was learnt that though he had obtained the necessary clearance from the ward and local government levels, the state chapter of the party failed to endorse him.When the NWC eventually scheduled his waiver request for discussion, it was discovered that Alaibe had not complied with the normal procedure for waiver matters.
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