The All Progressives Congress (APC), Bayelsa chapter, Monday announced that it had uncovered a plot by the state governor, Senator Douye Diri, to frame up the APC candidate in the last governorship election in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

APC said Diri and his cohorts intended to make Sylva look guilty of crimes he had not committed on purpose to distract and dissuade him from effectively pursuing his petition at the state governorship election tribunal against Diri’s declaration as governor-elect.

APC State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, said, “We are aware of Senator Diri’s devious activities at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) aimed at sponsoring invented petitions against Sylva, and the pressure he is mounting on officials of the commission to initiate arrest and prosecution against him on trumped up charges, particularly, bordering on his tour of duty as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

“We have it on good authority that Governor Diri has instigated officials of EFCC on a fishing expedition to try to cobble some flimsy and imaginary charges together against Sylva in order to arrest him. This is all in a bid to distract the APC candidate, and hinder effective pursuit of his petition at the State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

“Senator Diri knows full well that he did not win the November 11 governorship poll; he knows without a doubt that he is holding a stolen mandate that would soon revert to the rightful owner. That is why despite his alleged victory, there is hardly any celebration. Diri and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are simply jittery, knowing there is nothing to celebrate.

“Chief Timipre Sylva and APC trust the capacity of the judiciary to do justice in the Bayelsa State governorship election litigation. We have filed our petition, and we are pursuing it diligently, hoping that there would be justice at the end of the day.

“But Diri and PDP, knowing their weak standing before the law, are doing all they can to hinder Sylva’s ability to pursue his petition. They simply distrust the judiciary and are trying sundry self-help tactics – the same strategy they employed before the governorship election.

“APC would like to use this medium to warn Diri and PDP to desist from their conspiratorial activities against Sylva at the EFCC. We also wish to advise the EFCC to resist any temptation to get entangled in the political chicanery of the sinking governor and his party.”

Reacting to Bayelsa APC statement, the Bayelsa PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Ebiye Ogoli denied It was behind the alleged plot.

Ogoli said it is clear from the APC’s allegations that the party was suffering from the November 11 post-election traumatic disorder and that its key leaders and officials deserve to be medically examined.

Ogoli said Sylva and the APC, having lost badly in the election, were engaging in another round of misleading and vexatious propaganda designed to hoodwink gullible Bayelsa people.

He said: “Chief Timpre Sylva, as a bad loser, has refused to acknowledge and accept the outcome of the November 11 governorship election for what it is – a free, fair and transparent poll.

“The election was widely adjudged by various local and international observers as one of the cleanest in recent times conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, in which incumbent Governor Douye Diri was re-elected via a landslide.

“We are at a loss as to the reasons for this latest senile vituperation thrown at our dear Governor,” The PDP Spokesman said