The All Progressives Congress and Timipre Sylva, the APC’s governorship candidate, gained support from some of the governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri’s top advisers and Nunieh Odede, the party’s state youth leader on Monday.
The governor’s top aides formally left their positions to campaign for Sylva before the November 11 elections, while Odede publicly announced his departure from the PDP in a handwritten letter.
Odede and the other defectors met with the APC flagbearer, according to a statement issued by Sylva’s Special Adviser for Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru.
Abiah Oyisor, director of the state environmental sanitation authority, was listed among the aides who deserted Diri to camp out with Sylva, along with Itu Goodluck, Timipa Ile, Olali Suwofien, and Ayaye Obuma, the governor’s special representative in the Yenagoa LGA.
According to the statement, Sylva praised Odede and others for their bravery and decision to put the welfare of the state ahead of personal benefit.
“Youths are always the lifeblood of every civilization. They also embody the future and provide a trajectory for it. Your actions today are brave and selfless; you put the interests of the state before your own, transcending even the upcoming elections, and you have given us all confidence that Bayelsa state will succeed.
It said that after they left the PDP and supported Sylva and the APC, they would be welcomed at an official defection ceremony with thousands of their fans.
It said that the PDP candidate’s chances of winning Yenagoa, the state capital, and in particular the Epie and Atissa kingdoms, where Sylva was rumored to be making political inroads, had been diminished by the defections.
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