The gubernatorial ambition of former Bayelsa State governor, Mr Timipre Sylva may have crippled with the development from the party leadership.
Sylva has charges of N19.5b filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
A reliable source from the All Progressives Congress (APC) national head office yesterday said that President Muhammadu Buhari doesn’t feel at ease with him flying the flag of the party over the charges that have not been cleared after an initial one that was dismissed by the court on technicalities.
The source indicated that the leadership of the party, particularly the president, is not comfortable fielding him as the candidate of APC in the December guber election because of the corruption charges yet to be cleared.
The party leadership, according to our source, may on Monday ask Sylva to shelve his ambition for the image and integrity of the party.
The party may be better aligned to other candidates without any integrity baggage as the APC government lays claim to serious bent to anti corruption disposition.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had filed fresh charges against Sylva at the Federal High Court, Abuja. Sylva was charged alongside Francis Okokuro, Gbenga Balogun, and Samuel Ogbuku. They are being prosecuted for allegedly using three companies – Marlin Maritime Limited, Eat Catering Services Limited, and Haloween- Blue Construction and Logistics Limited to move about N19.2 billion from Bayelsa State coffers between 2009 and 2012, under false pretence of using the withdrawn money to augment salaries of the state government workers.
The charges by EFCC were before Justice A. R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court who dismissed the 42-count charge of stealing brought against Sylva and his co-accused by the EFCC, on grounds that the prosecution's application to consolidate the charges against the defendants amounted to an abuse of court process. EFCC faulted the ruling as being premature, since the accused persons had not taken any plea before the court.
The action of the trial judge stalled the move by the anti-graft agency to consolidate the charges against the former governor having, days earlier, withdrawn similar charges pending before Justice E.S. Chukwu of the same court.
EFCC said it still awaits the assignment of the case to another judge to pave way for the arraignment of Sylva and others.