Bayelsa APC remains strong after Timipre Sylva’s exit, with Yekini Nabena saying 90% of members will stay and support the party in 2027
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Yekini Nabena, said in Abuja on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, that the Bayelsa APC remains strong and united despite the resignation of former Bayelsa State Governor and former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
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Nabena said Sylva’s departure would not fracture the party’s structure in the state, insisting that the majority of APC members and stakeholders would remain committed to the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The former APC spokesman said about 90 per cent of the party’s members and stakeholders in Bayelsa had chosen to remain in the ruling party.
“My dear leader, His Excellency Chief Timipre Sylva, we received with deep reflection the news of your resignation from the All Progressives Congress,” Nabena said, acknowledging the former governor’s contribution to the party.
“As one who joined others to build the APC with sweat and resources, your decision after wide consultation with family, associates and supporters is a painful but principled one.”
Sylva announced his resignation on August 31, 2026, in a letter addressed to the APC chairman in Ward 4, Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.
The former governor described himself as a founding member of the APC and accused the party of moving away from the principles on which it was established.
Sylva also criticised the Bola Tinubu administration, saying the government had disappointed many Nigerians and expressing confidence that voters would seek change in 2027.
Sylva said he could no longer remain in a party whose leaders, in his view, had embraced the idea that “all is fair in politics”. He said the ideals of the party had been “thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted”.
His resignation has added another layer to the political calculations surrounding the 2027 elections, particularly in Bayelsa, where Sylva remains an influential figure despite his departure from the APC.
Nabena, however, argued that the party’s structure extends beyond any individual politician.
“APC in Bayelsa is bigger than one man. The majority of our members and stakeholders remain committed to the party, and we will continue to work together to strengthen it,” he said.
He added that party members would remain in the APC because they believed the country’s difficulties were fundamentally questions of leadership rather than problems that could be solved simply by changing political parties.
“We will not abandon the ship for nowhere because the problem facing the country is not about the political parties but leadership problems,” Nabena said.
Nabena further expressed confidence that the Bayelsa APC would work to deliver President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, alongside the party’s other candidates in the state.
The development is significant because Sylva has previously occupied a central position in the Bayelsa APC.
He served as governor of Bayelsa State from 2007 to 2012 and later served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from 2019 to 2023.
His exit also comes against the backdrop of legal and political controversies surrounding him.
In November 2025, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission declared Sylva wanted over an alleged case involving conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257 linked to funds provided by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board for an oil refinery project.
The EFCC said a warrant for his arrest had been issued by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
The anti-graft agency later rejected suggestions that the investigation was politically motivated, saying Sylva had been under investigation and had allegedly failed to honour an invitation.
An aide to Sylva, however, said at the time that the former governor would cooperate with the EFCC after completing a medical check-up in the United Kingdom.
Sylva’s resignation letter did not cite the EFCC investigation as the reason for leaving the APC.
Instead, the former governor focused on what he described as the party’s abandonment of its founding values and the performance of the Federal Government.
Nabena’s response also reflects the continuing political debate within the Bayelsa APC over its organisation and grassroots strength.
Earlier in 2026, he warned that transferring control of party structures to elected governors could alienate loyal members and weaken the APC’s grassroots base ahead of the 2027 elections.
The latest position from Nabena is that Sylva’s departure will not trigger an exodus from the party.
He said the majority of members and stakeholders had invested heavily in building the APC and would remain to pursue the party’s electoral objectives.
Whether that confidence translates into sustained grassroots support will become clearer as political parties intensify their preparations for the 2027 elections.
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For now, the contrasting positions of Sylva and Nabena underline a significant political split: while Sylva says the APC has lost its founding direction, Nabena maintains that the party’s organisation in Bayelsa remains sufficiently resilient to withstand the departure of one of its most prominent figures.
