The Bayelsa chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has stated that it adopted the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, as its flag-bearer for the December 5 governorship election, based on the need for pragmatic development and change.
Leaders of LP had last weekend at an emergency state executive committee meeting in Yenagoa, announced the adoption of Sylva, a former governor of the state, as its governorship candidate, and urged him to embark on pragmatic development agenda and accelerated youth empowerment policies, when elected.
Secretary of Bayelsa State LP, Comrade Ebiowe Olowu, who spoke to newsmen in Yenagoa, explained that though the decision to enter into a pact with the APC was not a merger but a decision to support the APC on the quest for verifiable change in the state.
Olomu, stated that the Labour Party received lots of offers from various political parties on issue of partnership, “having examined their plans for the development of our dear state, we are convinced that the APC is offering Bayelsa a better deal.”
He said: “The relationship with the APC is not a merger but a relationship that is expected to benefit Labour Party, the APC and the people of the state. We shall ensure that the APC government takes practical steps towards economic diversification different from mere intellectual seminars and jamborees that have not benefitted or made impact positively on the economic base of the state.
“We took the decision to ensure that the state is moved away into a state where there will be no master and servant relationship between the government and the governed. A state where the government will not see her senior citizen as being unproductive. A state where culture of winner takes all is cast aside. We want to create a paradigm shift from the shackles of gloom, poverty and deprivation to an upward mobile society where our collective inputs will be harnessed for the benefit of all.”