Sylva: Can he overcome this latest onslaught?
The governor is certainly not a happy man this time. It is indeed, not a good season for the man who is only a free man at the moment because of the executive immunity he enjoys; having his key officials rounded up by the operatives of the EFCC, and are now standing trial. EFCC has […]
The governor is certainly not a happy man this time. It is indeed, not a good season for the man who is only a free man at the moment because of the executive immunity he enjoys; having his key officials rounded up by the operatives of the EFCC, and are now standing trial.
EFCC has filed a six-count charge against them. They are; State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Charles Osuala; the state‘s Accountant General, Francis Okokuro, the state‘s Director of Treasury, Abot Clinton; and the Director of Finance, Anthony Howells for allegedly stealing over N2billion belonging to the state.
The officials were charged before the Federal High Court in Abuja under the Money Laundering (Prohibition Act,) 2004.
Some of the charges against the Bayelsa officials include, “That you, Francis Okokuro, Abbot T. Clinton, Ikobho Anthony Howells and Dr. Charles Sylva Osuala (now at large) sometime between October, 2009 and February, 2010, at various places in Nigeria, including Abuja, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, did conspire to commit a crime to wit: conversion of properties and resources amounting to N2,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira) belonging to the Bayelsa State Government and derived from an illegal act, with the aim of concealing the illicit origin of the said amount and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 17(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition Act), 2004 and punishable under Section 14(1) of the same Act;
“That you, Francis Okokuro, Abbot T. Clinton, Ikobho Anthony Howells and Dr. Charles Sylva Osuala (now at large) on or about the 22nd of January, 2010, at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, converted the sum of N380,000,000.00 (Three Hundred and Eighty Million Naira), property of the Bayelsa State Government, through the account of one Habibu Sani Maigidia, a Bureau De Change Operator with Account No. 221433478108, in Fin Bank, Plc, which sum you knew represented the proceeds of an illegal act with the aim of concealing the nature of the proceeds of the said illegal act and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 14(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition Act) 2004 and also punishable under section 14(1) of the same Act;
The commission has given its counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo, the fiat to prosecute the suspects. Three of them are in the custody of the EFCC while Osuala is said to be on the run. The charge was filed by Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, a Chief Legal Officer with the EFCC.
The arrest has again played up the political dispute in the state which pitched governor Sylva and the acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, against one another. Followers of the political events in the state are of the view that with the development, Sylva’s ambition for 2012 as it affects the state is troubled.
Suffice it to say that Sylva’s political journey in the present dispensation has been a tortuous one that is subject to various political allusions and interpretations.
Sylva won the gubernatorial election and succeeded Goodluck Jonathan on May 29, 2007, after Jonathan was elevated to the position of Vice President. He was however, reported to have made uncomplimentary remarks about his predecessor’s administration at his inauguration, describing Bayelsa as “the least developed industrially and commercially,” of all the 36 states.
Sylva’s opponent in the 2007 election, Ebitimi Amgbare, of the Action Congress, challenged his victory at the Bayelsa State Election Petitions Tribunal but lost. Though the tribunal upheld Sylva’s election, Amgbare took the matter to the Appeal Court in Port Harcourt which overturned the Tribunal’s decision and nullified Sylva’s election on April 15, 2008.
The Appeal Court’s five justices were unanimous in their decision and ordered that Speaker, Werinipre Seibarugo, be sworn-in to replace Sylva as acting Governor, with a new election to be held within three months.
A new election was held on May 24, 2008, and Sylva, again running as the PDP candidate, was overwhelmingly elected with 588,204 out of about 598,000 votes. He was sworn-in again on May 27, saying on this occasion that he would form a broadly inclusive unity government.
The governor whose house is on fire at the moment is a known opponent of the acting president even though they belong to the same political party, the PDP. It was gathered that the governors believe that Jonathan never wanted him in office.
Sources close to the governor’s forum confided in Sunday Trust that when the issue of Jonathan’s presidency came up at the forum, Sylva was opposed to the proposal’ and attempted impressing it on his colleagues to stop Jonathan.
His attempt succeeded. When the EFCC hit the state, it was speculated in some quarters that it could be a reprisal attack by the man of the moment in Aso Rock. This insinuation was however countered by the commission‘s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi,
Babafemi said the investigation of the financial mismanagement started early 2009, but the EFCC could not conclude its investigations before now. He regretted that people always link the activities of the agency to one personality or the other.
The agency’s spokesman queried that, “are you saying that EFCC should not carry out its operation because Bayelsa is the state of the acting president and there is political dispute in the state. That is unfair to us”
As the EFCC saga rages, another controversy emerged over the sack of the Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development in Bayelsa State, Mr. Ayakeme Whisky, as the government and the sacked commissioner traded words.
The government said it sacked Whisky who is Jonathan’s loyalist, over alledged non-performance, but Whisky in a swift reaction, said Governor Timipre Sylva failed to release funds to his ministry, thus setting him up for removal.
The political circles in the state believe that Whisky was a victim of vendetta and in-fighting that has crippled the Bayelsa State Executive Council since Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was elevated to Acting President.
Reports have it that it was believed that the commissioner was sacked because of his romance with the faction of the PDP in the state loyal to the Acting President.
The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Chief Asara Asara, a known ally of the Acting President, had resigned his appointment from the administration.
The sacked commissioner is the national secretary of the Edwin Clark-led Niger Delta Leaders Elders and Stakeholders Forum and a protégé of the elder statesman.
It was learnt that Whisky got into trouble when the NDLESF issued a word of caution to South-South governors who were perceived to be opposed to the emergence of Jonathan as the Acting President.
There are concerns that the governor may be in for a very serious battle for 2012, having Jonathan, Clark and other politicians in the opposing PDP camp to contend with. He faced hurdles in 2007 but was able to make it and now the storm is gathering. The question now is, will he be able to weather the storm in 2012?
Sylva was born in Rivers State where Bayelsa State was carved out from in 1996, and was educated in Port Harcourt and in Lagos state. He was a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly in the 1990s.