Governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State started on a stormy note on Tuesday morning with protest by supporters of governorship aspirant, Timi Alaibe, who were denied access to the venue of the event.
Alaibe was also not allowed to enter the venue. He was seen at the gate with his supporters, creating a riotous scene.
It was a busy day for security personnel at the venue of the primary exercise as Alaibe’s supporters were seen engaging security men in arguments over the propriety of their action.
Many of the supporters were milling outside the gate shouting and making attempts to force their way into the venue but were disallowed.
Investigation revealed that Alaibe and his supporters were denied access because of the stunning allegation that they were not accredited delegates, a situation which led to hot exchanges and insinuations that the Timipre Sylva’s camp was behind their travails in a bid to manipulate the election.
With this development, there were indications that today’s primary will likely to be marred by crisis as the outcome will be dented by complaints of bias and thus those affected particularly the Alaibe group may reject the result.
“We will certainly reject the outcome of the primary if the situation does not change here today because this arrangement is skewed in favour of a particular aspirant”, one of the supporters stated.
As at the time of filing this report, the growing protest had become a source of worry to the Adams Oshiomhole-led panel charged with the responsibility of conducting the primary as frantic efforts were being made to get the aspirants and disgruntled delegates to calm down.
It was also observed that more security men were being deployed to the venue to forestall any possible breakdown of law and order as party thugs were said to have invaded the venue.
