By Samuel Oyadongha & Emem Idio

YENAGOA—ALL is not well within the fold of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Bayelsa State following the alleged decision of some party chieftains to zone key positions ahead of the scheduled congresses.

It was gathered that chieftains of the party loyal to former Governor Timipre Sylva and the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, had reportedly met in Abuja and taken a decision to alter the existing zoning formula.

According to reports, the chieftains changed the zoning for the chairmanship position from the Bayelsa Central senatorial district to Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.

However, party elders yesterday, distanced themselves from the purported zoning, stressing that there were no stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja where such agreement was reached.

Reacting to the reported new zoning arrangement, Joseph Fafi, who is the acting chairman of the party in Bayelsa State, in a statement yesterday in Yenagoa while calling on APC members to ignore such claims, said: “The guidelines allow only persons from the Central senatorial district to contest for the office of the chairman of the party in the state. This is a National Executive Council, NEC, decision and no stakeholder can alter it.

“Those behind the publication are part of the third force working against the peace and stability of the state and the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.”