Yenagoa: In a bold political shift aimed at accelerating development in Bayelsa State, Governor Douye Diri has officially defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), marking a significant realignment in the region’s political landscape.
Diri was officially received into the ruling party by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, at a rally in Yenagoa on Monday.
Several high-profile figures, including the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, attended the rally,
Others are governors Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo, Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta, Hope Uzodimma of Imo, and Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom.
Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, APC National Chairman, presented the party’s flag to Diri, declaring him the new leader of the APC in Bayelsa.
According to Yilwatda, “Bayelsa state has spoken. Today, Bayelsa state is APC. Bayelsa state is too critical for us to leave it in the hands of the PDP.
“The roads have been constructed. We saw it. We saw the fish in the fish farms. We saw agriculture booming. We saw trading. We saw everything doing well.
“Therefore, Governor Diri is welcome to the family of the APC. I can now give him this flag as the leader of the party in the state.
“Take this broom as a symbol of our party. Sweep out PDP, and ensure that the votes are swept in 2027,” he said.
Speaking after receiving the flag, Diri said his defection was a collective decision by the Ijaw people.
“On Oct. 15, I announced my resignation from the People’s Democratic Party, and I ended by saying the obvious reasons.
“Today, you will hear some of those obvious reasons. Your Excellency, the Vice President, the people you are seeing are not just Bayelsa people alone.
“They are Ijaws from Delta State in their numbers. There are Ijaws from Ondo State, and there are Ijaws from Edo State in their numbers.
“This defection is not a Bayelsa defection. It is the Ijaw nation defecting to the APC,” he said.
Shettima commended Governor Diri for making a wise decision by joining the APC, which has garnered over 95 per cent of the support of the people of Bayelsa.
He stated that the governor had done well for the people of Bayelsa in all sectors by delivering the dividends of democracy, especially to the grassroots.
The Vice President assured the people of Bayelsa of the Federal Government’s continued commitment and support, ably led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It can be recalled that in 2025, the opposition party lost the governors of Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom, and Enugu to the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections.