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Ex-Petroleum Minister, Timipre Sylva has blasted Bayelsa Governor, Duoye Diri Over claims he’s sponsoring bad governance protests.
Sylva in a statement on Tuesday denied being behind the protests insisting he had rather spoken against it when he advised aggrieved youth to be patient with President Bola Tinubu.
He said “I shudder in disbelief” to hear the governor accusing “me falsely” during a “security Council” meeting of being behind the planned protests.
The protests which the organisers continue to insist would be held on Thursday, against what they said is due to bad governance and hardship.
The federal government has pleaded for patience stressing that interventions have begun and would soon yield the desired results.
But aggrieved protesters who are mostly youth have vowed to press ahead as that’s the only language the government would listen to.
On his part, Sylva had earlier called for calm and time to enable President Bola Tinubu to tackle the issues raised by aggrieved Nigerians.
He wondered why the Bayelsa governor would link him to the protest “instead of joining hands with me in my efforts to prevent the protest.”
He said, “If anyone were to protest against bad governance in Bayelsa state, it would not be against President Tinubu but against Governor Diri. In spite of that, I believe that protests are mostly counterproductive. And I will never encourage them.
“Just a day before his statement, I had asked our youths to shelve the protest and give more time to President Tinubu. Prior to that, I had spoken to youth leaders in and around Bayelsa State, on phone and in person, on the need to give the president more time as he is working tirelessly to better our lot.
He added, “Waking up to Gov Diri’s wild and vile accusations that I am in fact supporting #endbadgovernance and hunger protest is nothing but a political culture-shock of sorts to me.
“Hardly can I fathom the fact that Gov Diri would politicise such a serious matter and openly harass me, and churn out such irresponsible, insensitive and divisive rhetoric.
“The state government feels there is great wisdom in linking me with a certain Ebideke Atuwo, a Chap I do not know. On investigation, the chap is from Ekeremor. Same place as Senator Lokpobiri.
“If the link with me is because he is a ‘member’ of the APC, then I dare remind Gov Diri that the Hon the Minister of State (Oil) is also a ‘member’ of APC too.
“Instead of trading accusations and rocking the boat, at this critical time, let us join hands together as leaders of our people to give them hope,” he pleaded.
He emphasised that “this is yet another opportunity to tell our youths to shelve the protest.
“We cannot get the succour we need if our economy is grounded and our streets occupied.
“While dissent is natural and sometimes inevitable, only sincere dialogue guarantees peace and progress,” the former governor said.
When contacted for comments, Governor Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, pleaded to see the statement from Sylva before responding. He was yet to respond at the time of filing this report after several hours after the statement was forwarded to him.
