APC Guber Ticket: Alaibe withdraws from Bayelsa gov race
Felix Okoye
A former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and one of the leading contenders for the All Progressives Congress governorship race in Bayelsa State, Ndutimi Alaibe, has withdrawn from the race.
According to Alaibe, who has been the torn in the flesh of former Governor Sylva said, he withdrew from the race in the interest of the party.
In a press statement entitled: “For the sake of our party, I withdraw”, Alaibe recalled the zeal, enthusiasm and hope with which thousands of Bayelsans made a statement in the direction of change in August, 2015.
He also recalled the occasion where respected leaders of the APC ushered himself and other leaders and members from their then party, the Peoples Democratic Party, into APC.
According to him, that singular event had been phenomenal just as its true meaning and direction had all exuded confidence, unity of purpose, cohesion, collectivism and courage.
Alaibe words: “As one of such leaders who took that historic decision, I thought of giving a further bite to my burning desire to extricate the state from abysmal leadership failure.
“Therefore, my aspiration to be governor after series of consultations was to rekindle our collective hope and lift the state beyond its current state of decay under the PDP.
“Regardless, I am not oblivious of the fundamental fact that we all need a virile, united, cohesive and collaborative APC to bring about our desires to fruition. Not only do we need this, APC deserves every sacrifice, including personal interests, to arrive at the envisaged destination come February, 2016.
“This is more so that both as individual leaders and as a party, the need to avoid a situation of crisis that the PDP might inadvertently reap from cannot be over-emphasised.”
He added that having carefully examined the circumstances that had trailed the governorship primary of the APC in Bayelsa, he had come to the conclusion that pushing his ambition beyond that point carried, alongside it, some collateral consequences.
“Though, I was confident he had the required support of his admirers and supporters as well as the needed backing of Bayelsans to govern them, the hurdles set on the way of the noble project were capable of overheating the APC in Bayelsa.
“In another vein, the virtuous path to take is that virtuous one in which personal interest are sacrificed for the common good, whether for the APC or the state in general. This is the path I chose in the light of the prevailing circumstances. I therefore withdraw from the governorship primary contest.
“This decision is taken in the interest of our party especially as we face the task of the common challenge of unseating the PDP in the state come December 5.”
