A group, the Buhari Support Group (BSG), has accused the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, of using President Muhammadu Buhari’s name to intimidate the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to sway victory in his favour in the inconclusive governorship election in the state. It advised the president to call him to order else his reputation will be tarnished.
In a statement issued at the weekend by its leader, Ebiowei Tarabina, the group said, “We ask President Buhari to prevail on Sylva to immediately stop using his name to promote his ambition in fraudulent ways since he does not have the permission of the President to do so.”
BSG categorically accused Sylva of dropping Buhari’s name with a view of putting pressure on institutions of the federal government to do his bidding, adding that its intervention was a patriotic step to save the president and his reputation from being used to destroy institutions like the INEC, the military and the police as a desperate political action by the APC candidate.
It explained that as followers and key supporters of the President, it felt highly embarrassed to see the flagrant dropping of the president’s name by Sylva to hoodwink federal officers in the state to do his bidding, particularly in attempts it allege were meant to compromise the rerun election of January 9 in his favour.
The statement reads, “We condemn Sylva’s behaviour because it amounts to fraud and a complete disservice to the office and reputation of Mr. President.
“Unknown to Mr. President, his name is being fraudulently used and so flagrantly to trick officials of various federal institutions like the army, police and INEC to undertake and embark on illegal duties regarding the supplementary election in Southern Ijaw slated for January 9. Sylva must stop this fraud forthwith, the President must necessarily call him to order for sanity.”
While warning Sylva’s action could result in total destruction of federal institutions if nothing was done to check him, the group said, “It is important to allow the will of the people to prevail in the rerun election by ensuring that the process is free, fair and credible.”
BSG claimed further that “The sort of abuses to which Sylva has subjected federal institutions ahead of the supplementary election, particularly the military and the police, are inordinate and reprehensible.
It therefore called on President Buhari “to publicly take a stand to show to the world that he has no preferred candidate in the Bayelsa election and no one authorized to use his name to fraudulently advance any political ambition or undeservedly advance their electoral value.”