Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, today completed his long-anticipated defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) at a colourful rally held at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex.
Flanked by Vice President Kashim Shettima, APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda, and no fewer than five APC governors, Diri received the party flag amid thunderous applause from thousands of supporters who painted Yenagoa green-white-green.
“I took this decision on behalf of every Bayelsan,” Diri declared from the podium. “Somebody had to step forward so that our state is no longer sidelined when federal projects, oil blocks, and NDDC contracts are shared. Today, Bayelsa is fully at the centre.”
He revealed that he quietly resigned from the PDP on October 15 after weeks of shuttle diplomacy between Abuja and Yenagoa, adding that 19 state assembly members, two senators, and over 80 per cent of his cabinet crossed the carpet with him.
Shettima, who handed Diri the broom symbol, hailed the move as “the final piece in the South-South jigsaw.”
With Delta’s Sheriff Oborevwori (who flew in for the event), Akwa Ibom’s Umo Eno, and now Diri in the APC fold, only Rivers State’s Siminalayi Fubara remains under the PDP umbrella in the oil-rich region.
“President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope now has an Ijaw face,” Shettima quipped, triggering wild cheers.
Yet the jubilation masked brewing tension at Government House. Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, a staunch PDP loyalist and protégé of ex-Governor Seriake Dickson, boycotted the ceremony.
Sources confirmed that 21 of the 24 assembly members have signed an impeachment notice against him for “gross disloyalty.”
Ewhrudjakpo has already filed suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, to restrain the Speaker, the Chief Judge, and security agencies from removing him.
Former APC publicity scribe Yekini Nabena fired an early shot, tweeting that Diri “arrived empty-handed” and warning against sidelining Bayelsa APC founding fathers like Timipre Sylva and Heineken Lokpobiri.
Minister Lokpobiri, present on the dais, countered by praising Diri’s “bridge-building spirit” and promising more federal appointments for Bayelsans.
The defection ceremony concluded at 6:45 p.m. with the national anthem. Governor Diri and Vice President Shettima left the Samson Siasia Stadium under tight security. Government House, Yenagoa, will fly the APC flag from tomorrow.
Bayelsa now joins Delta and Akwa Ibom as APC-controlled states in the Niger Delta. The political map of the South-South has been redrawn.
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