BAYELSA GOVERNOR DIRI EXPLAINS PDP EXIT, FORMALLY JOINS APC

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has formally defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), stating that his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had been hijacked by undertakers bent on destroying it. The Governor made the declaration during his formal defection and reception ceremony in Yenagoa on Monday, which was attended by a high-powered delegation of APC leaders.

In a statement, the Chief Press Secretary to the Bayelsa State Governor, Daniel Alabrah, reported that Governor Diri said he did his best to salvage the PDP but was left with no choice other than to join the ruling party to protect the political future of his followers and members in the state. Diri also cited President Bola Tinubu’s developmental initiatives, such as the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, the second phase of the Nembe-Brass road, and a N4 billion tax waiver for the state, as factors that influenced his decision. “On October 15, I did something after consultation with elders and the State Assembly and afterwards resigned from the PDP for obvious reasons. This defection is not only for Bayelsa. It is for Ijaws in Ondo, Edo, Delta and Rivers. I will not denigrate my former party. We were happy with it until some undertakers destroyed it. We tried to salvage it but to no avail,” Diri stated.

The event also saw the defection of two of the state’s senators, Konbowei Benson and Benson Agadaga, former Senator Ben Bruce, and the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Abraham Ingobere, who were all received into the APC. Vice President Kashim Shettima, who welcomed the new members alongside Senate President Godswill Akpabio and APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, presented a party flag to Governor Diri and declared him the new leader of the APC in Bayelsa State. “Today, you have shown us that Bayelsa State has chosen the light of national integration over the shadows of political isolation. The All Progressives Congress is the party of those who believe that progress can only be guaranteed when we stand together,” Shettima said.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended Diri for steering the state on the path of peace and congratulated him for aligning the state with the party at the center. Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, said Diri had taken a progressive step by aligning with the renewed hope agenda of the President. The APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, officially welcomed Diri to the party, presented him with the party’s symbol, and affirmed his position as the new leader of the APC in the state.

The ceremony was attended by a host of dignitaries including the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin; Governors Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, Pastor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo, Ahmed Ododo of Kogi, Monday Okpebolo of Edo, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, and Peter Mba of Enugu. Former Edo governor Adams Oshiomhole, Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of Regional Development Abubakar Momoh, and the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, were also present. Alabrah confirmed the event concluded with the governor’s formal induction into the APC.