Richard Kpodo, former special adviser to ex-governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva, has accused his former boss of organising and sponsoring the stoning of the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2011.

Recall that youth had pelted Buhari with stones at the Amarata field in Yenagoa, the state capital, when he came for the 2011 presidential campaign on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change.

The Punch reports that Kpodo, who was in charge of security under Sylva, alleged that the former governor hired those thugs, which showered stones on Buhari. The ex-aide added that he could not stop Sylva from carrying out his cruel plan because he only learnt about the stoning after the incident. He also recalled that after the incident, Sylva accused Buhari of entering the state without observing protocols.

Kpodo said that his confrontation with Sylva was because he betrayed him despite giving support against a sitting President Goodluck Jonathan. The ex-aide stressed that the former governor had no moral rights to accuse Jonathan of betraying him since Sylva was “a serial betrayer” of his supporters.

According to Kpodo, the former governor inherited an empty treasury from Jonathan but didn’t disclose it to members of the public because he was playing “a good boy to the president.”

“Sylva said he is close to Buhari. Which Buhari is he close to; the one he sent people to stone in 2011? If he had died, would Sylva had said he is close to Buhari?”  Kpodo wandered.

“Sylva masterminded the plan of stoning Buhari. I can mention names. Why we did not say anything then was because we took oath of office. Sylva has resorted to betray people like us who stood by him when he was fighting the president.

“We were the people who made publications against Mr. President. We came out again to fight for the new PDP. We were fighting the PDP and they declared us wanted. They wanted to assassinate us.

“They even went to my village to arrest my family, that I am trying to incite people against the government; a lot of criminal claims against me. Where was Sylva in all of these? When we succeeded and joined APC, he brought his stooges to destroy the party; he betrayed us,” he said.

Kpodo alleged that in the last general election Sylva did not campaign for the All Progressives Congress and its presidential candidate. In his opinion, the lack of visibility of the party in the state led to Buhari’s defeat in Bayelsa.On May 18, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission re-arraigned the former governor before a Federal High Court in Abuja. Sylva was accused of fraudulently obtaining about N2.4bn between October 2009 and February 2010 when he was the governor of the state.