Timi ALaibe Dumps Governorship Race in Beyelsa

Timi Alaibe, a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress on Wednesday withdrew from the re-scheduled primary of the party to pick candidate for the December 5 guber polls in the state.

Mr. Alaibe, who had called for the cancellation of the September 22 botched primary, held at the Samson Siasia stadium, announced his withdrawal in a statement addressed to Bayelsa people in the early hours of Wednesday, before the primary election process commenced.

According to him, he took the decision to preserve party cohesion which was critical to dislodging the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the polls.

“This decision is taken in the interest of our party especially as we face the task of the common challenge‎ of unseating the PDP in the state come December 5.

“Whereas I am confident that I have the required support of my admirers and supporters‎ as well as the needed backing of Bayelsans to govern them, the hurdles set on the way of this noble project are seemingly tempestuous and capable of overheating the APC in Bayelsa.

“As a result, having carefully examined the circumstances that have trailed the Governorship primaries of our great party in Bayelsa state, I have come to the conclusion that pushing my Governorship ambition beyond this point carries alongside it some collateral consequences.

“This is more so that both as individual leaders and as a party, the need to avoid the a situation of crisis that the PDP might inadvertently reap from cannot be over emphasized,” Mr. Alaibe said.

The National Working Committee of the APC had on Monday announced the cancellation of an earlier primary held on September 22 and ordered a fresh one for Tuesday which did not hold.

Meanwhile accreditation of delegates was underway at APC’s Secretariat as at 10.25 am on Wednesday amidst heavy presence of security operatives deployed to the party secretariat.