Without an eligible running mate, Slyva’s qualification for the Bayelsa State November 2023 offseason election is seriously in jeopardy.
By Our Correspondent
Joshua Maciver, a former Niger Delta militant who was picked by the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, as running mate, appears to be the clay foot in the former governor’s ambition to return to Creek Haven after 12 years.
Maciver’s suspected ineligibility may scuttle Sylva’s well oiled campaign to do a second four years as governor of Bayelsa State after a four-year stint as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
Maciver was alleged to have escaped from Kaduna Prison in 2006 after being convicted for murder and terrorism.
No record exists to show he was granted a Presidential Pardon or enlisted into the Presidential Amnesty Program, PAP.
He is alleged to have forged a PAP Identity card as no record in the Amnesty office indicates he is part of the program.
In 2006, Maciver told Prison officials he needed an urgent medical attention for a life threatening ailment. On his way to the hospital, Maciver, with the help of some Niger Delta militants who stormed Kaduna, escaped.
He returned to Bayelsa, cleaned himself up and has been involved in politics using ally, Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, while authorities looked away.
Stunned by the discovery of his conviction, Sylva has been running around seeking help. Sylva allegedly sought the help of the Presidential Amnesty office to request that Maciver’s name be included in the PAP program. His request was alleged to have been rebuffed by the PAP coordinator, General Ndiomu, who insisted they cannot add his name since he was never known to have embraced the late President Yar’Adua’s initiated Amnesty program.
Sylva can no longer substitute his running mate according to the Electoral Act except Maciver dies.
This leaves him in a serious dilemma ahead of the November 2023 offseason gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State. Without an eligible running mate, Slyva’s qualification for the election is seriously in jeopardy.
