‘You bought your ministerial position, resign now’ – Bayelsa APC tells Minister

It would appear that the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressive Congress are finally tired of fighting the Peoples Democratic Party governor of the state, Seriake Dickson and have turned on themselves instead.

The state chairman of APC, Timipa Tiwei on Wednesday, March 30 asked the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who is also a member of the party, to resign from his position.

Tiwei told newsmen in Abuja that the former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva selfishly sent his preferred names for appointment into government agencies to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal.

Tiwei was supported by the state executives of the party as he called on Lokpobiri to step down from his office as he is not a genuine member of the party neither does he share the vision of change which the Buhari administration sold to the Nigerian populace.

He further implored the president, Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the matter and ensure that true members of the party who made personal sacrifices to ensure that the APC won the 2015 elections are duly rewarded with juicy appointments instead of fair weather party members.

“We call on the minister representing Bayelsa, that is Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, to resign his appointment, reason being that he paid for the slot of his ministerial position and I also believe and those of us standing here know very well that he is not a member of the party.”

“The issue here today is the appointments that we feel were supposed to be given to those of us in the APC in Bayelsa. Its a pity to say that somebody like Sylva who was supposed to be the leader of the party, today turned against the party and sold our party slots for whatever he feels may be money.”

Sylva however, maintained that Lokpobiri was nominated by him for the ministerial appointment solely on merit.

“They felt that they are the ones that started the party and therefore, we should not deal with anybody who is coming late into the party. When the ministerial slot came, the chairman told me he wanted to be minister and he was not qualified to be minister. His only experience in Nigeria is that he has been a local government chairman, and I made him a local government chairman. He was local government chairman under me.”

“That is his only experience in life and I told him he can’t be minister because this is a serious government.”

“I also told them that the people who are joining us, we need to give them a sense of belonging and so, Lokpobiri was nominated. We also looked at the spread in the state. I was contesting for governor from the East, he, as the chairman is from the central and Heineken is from the West.”

“I felt we should take somebody from the West to be minister and Lokpobiri became minister,” he explained.

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