Politics
Bayelsa Guber: Dickson, Sylva Share Opposing Views
L-R: APC National Auditor, Chief George Moghalu, APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun and Deputy Chairman, Chief Segun Oni, during the National Chairman’s interactive session with journalisist in Abuja on Wednesday.
The incumbent Governor
of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lauded the cancellation of the poll in the area while the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate Timipre Sylva described as disappointing the cancellation of Sunday’s rescheduled poll in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
Sylva described INEC’s decision as a rape of democracy, stressing that he will not accept the cancellation.
According to him, ”We reject it completely. First and foremost, the Resident Electoral Commissioner has no powers to cancel an election which had duly taken place. It is only the Returning Officer that has powers to announce a cancellation or any other thing relating to an election such as this”.
“We had an election on Saturday. In Ekeremor, there was widespread shooting and they beat up a lot of APC members. The home of the Minister of State for Agriculture was under siege; his house was under fire for a long time. I had to call for re-enforcement before they could subdue the assailants in the morning.
“The assailants retreated and returned again in the evening but elections still held in Ekeremor that same day and returns were made. When APC protested, our protests were set aside and the elections were upheld because of one thing, because PDP won. If the APC had won, of course, the elections would probably have been set aside. They just put the figures together and submitted the figures and our protests died like a candle in the wind.
“In Sagbama, we did not see the electoral materials at all. Thugs besieged the local government. A top APC leader is today lying critically ill in the hospital with a broken arm he sustained running away from assailants. They held elections, of course nobody saw the materials and they just filled out the figures and submitted. The APC protested vehemently. Nobody heard our protests, elections were upheld.
“In Nembe Local Government Area, where the APC won clearly, they quickly cancelled two wards and re-conducted those elections on Sunday. On Sunday, no APC member saw any paper or anything at all relating to that election but votes were returned. We protested, our protests were rejected because the PDP won. If you look through, this election ab initio apparently, was set up for the PDP to win but we didn’t want to shout because we are a responsible party.
The Tide learnt that with the results from seven local government areas so far announced by the electoral umpire, Seriake is being trailed by his All Progressives Congress (APC) challenger, Timipre Sylva.
Dickson scored 105,745 votes against Sylva’s 72,594. The PDP flag bearer, who was leading his closest rival with 35, 154 votes before INEC declared the process inconclusive on Monday, tried to stop the election in the disputed council area, but failed.
The PDP applauded the cancellation of the Southern Ijaw election, which it described as a vindication of its earlier position that the commission erred by going ahead with the poll despite security concerns in the area.
In a statement by the Publicity Director of the Restoration Campaign Organisation, Jonathan Obuebite, the PDP said before the election was conducted, it had informed the electoral body and security authorities that the whole of Southern Ijaw had been taken over by thugs and criminal elements.
Obuebite stated that the PDP was for a free, fair and credible election and as such, election in Southern Ijaw must be conducted in an atmosphere that could guarantee the participation of the people.
He noted that as at 4pm on Sunday, election materials were still being distributed and wondered how such process could lead to a transparent election. He added that it was an orchestrated plan to rig the election as voting went on in the dead of the night.
He said the situation also afforded political thugs to infiltrate the polling units, snatching ballot boxes and intimidating voters under the close supervision of the military operatives.
Obuebite said the whole process was marred by apathy due largely to the wanton violence and mayhem unleashed by thugs and militants. The PDP accused INEC, the police and army of colluding with the APC to rig the election.
He said: “Before now, we knew that the SGF was coordinating the whole rigging plan and we alerted President Muhammadu Buhari and the public.They know they cannot win without rigging through violence and the whole world has seen what happened on Sunday. It was a rape of democracy.
“There was a premeditated effort on a multiple level of conspiracy to rig this election involving INEC, army and the police.
The Senate yesterday received the 2026-2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper from President Bola Tinubu, marking the formal launch of the 2026 federal budget cycle.
In a letter addressed to the upper chamber, Tinubu said the submission complies with statutory requirements and sets out the fiscal parameters that will guide the preparation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
He explained that the MTEF/FSP outlines the macroeconomic assumptions, revenue projections, and spending priorities that will shape Nigeria’s fiscal direction over the next three years.
The letter was read during plenary by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who urged lawmakers to expedite consideration of the document.
“It is with pleasure that I forward the 2026 to 2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for the kind consideration and approval of the Senate.
“The 2026 to 2028 MTEF and FSP were approved during the Federal Executive Council meeting of December 3, 2025, and the 2026 budget of the Federal Government will be prepared based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions therein,” the President stated.
Last week, the Federal Executive Council approved the fiscal projections, pegging the oil benchmark price at $64.85 per barrel and adopting a budget exchange rate of ?1,512/$1 for 2026—figures expected to significantly shape revenue forecasts and expenditure planning.
After reading the President’s letter, Jibrin referred the document to the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), with a directive to submit its report by Wednesday, December 17.
The Senate adjourned shortly after to allow committees to commence scrutiny of the fiscal framework and continue the ongoing screening of ambassadorial nominees.
Tinubu’s communication to the Senate came less than 24 hours after he transmitted the same MTEF/FSP documents to the leadership of the House of Representatives.
The letter was read on the House floor by the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who also urged timely legislative action as required by law.
The MTEF and FSP are statutory instruments mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act and serve as the blueprint for Nigeria’s annual budgets.
They outline the government’s fiscal stance, macroeconomic assumptions, revenue frameworks, projected deficits, and sectoral priorities over a three-year period.
The Tide reports that approval by the National Assembly is a prerequisite for the executive to present the Appropriation Bill for the next fiscal year.
In a statement on Saturday, the former Senate Leader stated that the allocation of nominees across states and geopolitical zones falls short of the constitutional requirement for fair representation in the composition of the Federal Government.
The ex-Senate Whip warned that allowing the list to pass could deepen ethnic suspicion at a time when the administration should be consolidating national unity.
He highlighted disparities in the spread of nominees, noting that while some states have three or four slots, others have none. He also cited the inclusion of Senator Adamu Garba Talba from Yobe, who reportedly died in July.
“The entire North-East states have seven nominees in the list. Further checks revealed that the South-West geo-political zone has 15 nominees, while North-West and South-East have 13 and 9, respectively.
“North-Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominee while South-South parades 12 nominees,” Senator Ndume said.
According to him, such imbalances could heighten tensions and undermine Section 14(3) of the Constitution.
“My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical juncture in his administration, he should avoid missteps that could undermine national unity and foster ethnic distrust.
“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholder in the country. He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on the Federal Character Principle,” Senator Ndume added.
He accused the legislators of undermining the sanctity of the legislature and acting as instruments of destabilization.
“The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have, by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress,” Comrade Ememobong stated, adding that “They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made mockery of the legislature.”
“So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC,” he said.
Comrade Ememobong announced that the party would deploy constitutional provisions to reclaim its mandate from those who have “ignobly and surreptitiously” abandoned the platform on which they were elected.
“Consequently, the PDP will take legal steps to activate the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) to recover the mandate gained under the banner of our party which these people have now switched to another platform,” he said.
He urged party members in Rivers State to remain calm and steadfast.
“We urge all party members in Rivers State to remain faithful and resolute, as efforts are underway to rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity,” Comrade Ememobong assured.
