Bayelsa APC splits, as faction opens parallel secretariat

The crisis rocking the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday deepened as a faction led by the Ebierien Fala Itubor-led opened a parallel secretariat in Yenagoa.

According to the deputy chairman of the faction, Ogeibiri Orubebe, the Amos Jothan-led executive of the party was first suspended from office before they were sacked by the directive of the president last year.

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The faction also accused the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, who is also the leader of the party in the state of allegedly failing in his leadership role.

The parallel secretariat, which is located at Dimrose junction, occupies a building used by former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, during the 2019 governorship election.

Chief Timipre Sylva and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri who were political allies fell apart in the build-up to the last governorship election in the state, when Sylva supported Chief David Lyon instead of Lokpobiri.

The State Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr Doifie Buokoribo, said those claiming to be new executives of the party in Bayelsa were impostors and desperate politicians who wanted to score cheap political points.