By Dapo Akinrefon

Following Tuesday’s Appeal Court judgement which restored Chief Timipre Sylva to the ballot as candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the November 11 election, the South South Coordinator of The Asiwaju Group, Pastor Reuben Wilson has urged all party stakeholders to come together to achieve victory during the election.

Wilson, in a statement, stated that aggressive mobilisation, led by President Bola Tinubu will give Sylva the lead.

He said that it was time for the all APC leaders, including the Minister of State for Petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, to be in Bayelsa State for full campaigns.

He lamented that the minister was yet to show signs of support for Sylva adding that the “only way to prove critics wrong, was for him to join Tinubu and other APC leaders in campaigning for the party in the next few days, and thereafter continue to work for the success of the APC.”

He said: “On Monday, in my open letter to Mr President, I had called for his gracious intervention as leader of our party, to make sure the APC wins next weekend in Bayelsa State.

“I will re-echo that call by urging him to summon a meeting of all gladiators and stakeholders from Bayelsa State APC, including the minister of state for petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, who has not shown any form of commitment to the Sylva election project up till now.

“Instead of being committed to the project, he is seen to be hobnobbing with our opponents while also patronising and supporting those who never supported the APC in the past elections. I insist that the position Senator Lokpobiri is occupying should be taken from him and given to those who have shown capacity and total commitment to the progress of the party in Bayelsa State.

“The general suspicion is that Senator Lokpobiri and many others like him, are working at cross purposes, against the interest of the party. This cannot be allowed to continue unchecked, if the party must win the forthcoming election. There cannot be a better time for all party members to sink their differences and come out in full force to queue behind Sylva.

“With a few more weeks left before the public campaign window closes, I will want our national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the national executive committee of the party to come to Yenagoa and personally campaign for the APC.

“They should also ensure that Lokpobiri and other top party chieftains mount the rostrum and publicly campaign for Sylva. The current lack-lustre attitude of these party stakeholders is not in the interest of our party.”

He commended the judiciary for the boldness to do justice to the case and restore Sylva to the ballot, saying that he was confident of victory for the APC in November 11.

“While I commend the judiciary for doing the right thing, I also wish to congratulate Sylva as I look forward to victory for our party, come November 11, 2023,” he said.