Tinubu best among array of presidential candidates, says Sylva

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva insist that the presidential candidate of the ruling All progressive congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains the best among the array of those angling for the exalted seat of the presidency in the 2023 poll.

Speaking at the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential campaign rally held yesterday in Yenagoa, he cited Tinubu’s antecedents as a politician, Senator and Governor of Lagos state to buttress his assertions.

He contended that Tinubu’s leading rivals in the mould of the presidential candidate of the people’s democratic party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour party (LP) cannot make any headway in the 2023 presidential poll.

According to him: “Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very presidential. He has a track record that nobody can beat. When they asked me why I am so sure that Tinubu is the best Presidential candidate, I also asked them who is contesting with him because I don’t know.

“They say Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar but I told them that those people are no match for our candidate because we must look at their track records. What did Obi do in Anambra state when he was a governor?”

The Minister who likened Peter Obi to an unproductive Biblical servant that could not turn his one talent into two said governance is not about prudence alone but about creating opportunities.

On Atiku Abubakar, the former Governor of Bayelsa state maintained that he lack the wherewithal to administer the country effectively.

He noted: “Let’s talk about Atiku, his only mission is to come and sell the NNPC. He sold the other ones before but he forgot that he didn’t sell NNPC and he has told us he is coming back to sell it to his friends.”

Decrying the state of infrastructure and development of the state, he expressed disappointment with the performance of Governor Diri Douye of Bayelsa state.

He said it beats his imagination that Bayelsa state remains the second poorest state in Nigeria in spite of the abundant human, natural and mineral resources in the state.

He added: “Bayelsa is an APC state, although they stole the victory from us, you can see that they don’t even know what to do with it. Look at the state of Bayelsa state now. This state, according to National Statistics, is the second poorest state in the whole of Nigeria.

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“You can see why it is so. Can an umbrella protect you from the flood? We had serious flooding in Bayelsa that affected every home and every family in the state.

” The state government had been warned about it for a long time that the flood was coming but they had no preparation for the flood.

“You can also see when you walk on the streets of Bayelsa, you can see that they were not even prepared but today I am not here to talk about Bayelsa state because that battle is coming later and we know that that battle has already been won today.”

The former APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Yekini Nabena said APC has declared operation take over Bayelsa, hence governor Diri will be chased out to South Africa by the next governorship election.

Speaking with newsmen on the significance of the APC rally in the state, Hon. Yekini Nabena, who is also the Chairman, of the campaign publicity committee, said they were using the outing to send a message to the Diri-led Bayelsa state government that the state belongs to the APC.

“Governor Diri was quoted that a kilometre road in Bayelsa state is more expensive than three bridges in Rivers state. How can the terrain of Rivers and Bayelsa be different?

“These are sister states, there is no difference. How can you tell us that after collecting that amount – a hundred and something billion naira from the 13 percent derivation there is nothing to show.

“We are all here, the state is in darkness, physically we are here, it is not on paper. We have seen everywhere, everywhere is dirty. This is to show that the governor, governor Diri, is clueless.

“He doesn’t even know – instead of him to improve the infrastructure and development in the state, he is busy marrying more wives and also exposing his girlfriend in South Africa. So we are here for operation takeover.

“Our state cannot continue to suffer in this present state. We must rescue the state – we are the second poorest state after Sokoto. How can that be? Our location is number three or number four, so where is the money going to?

“And our population is the smallest in the country. So the man is wicked and all he is doing is just marrying wives. So today we are here for operation takeover come to the 2023 election.

“We are going to deliver our presidential candidate and all the National Assembly candidates, that one will tell him that it is time to run to South Africa. We are going to chase him out from the state,” Nabena stated.