Bayelsa Govt. Appointees Insist On Governor Diri’s Defection To The APC

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Bayelsa State Governor Senator Duoye Diri on Tuesday July 15,2025 came under severe pressure to join the All Progressive Congress APC.

Although speculations have of late been rife concerning alleged plans by  the Governor to dump his Peoples Democratic party, PDP platform, his close aides had  continued to shrug off the rumoured move.

But in an an interactive session with the media on Tuesday, some of the Governor’s media and personal Assistants under the auspices of Concerned Bayelsa Stakeholders led by  Wisdom Ikuli, called on their boss to fast track the process of his  defection  to the ruling APC .

The call is being perceived not by a few as a clear indication that Governor Diri may be inching closer to following the footsteps of his Delta and Akwa Ibom  colleagues who recently pitched their tents with the APC and the second term ambition of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Ikuli who described the call for the Governor to join the APC as sacrosanct and inevitable, noted that the move will usher in a new dawn in the growth and development of Bayelsa State.

The Governor’s Technical Adviser on Media Matters  insisted that Governor Diri’s  defection to the ruling APC has the high potentials of ending the era of abandoned Federal projects in the State.

“Having said that, we wish to proceed to the crux which is the need to appeal to His Excellency to take a decisive step to align with the Government at the centre.

Our fathers, High Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye and Chief ( Senator) Dr Melford Obiene Okilo admonished the Ijaw nation to always align with the Government at the centre, largely due to our distance from the centre and our difficult terrain in order to attract development to our area.

“For instance, our adherence to their advice and our alignment with the Peoples Democratic party, PDP, that was the Government at the centre helped Bayelsa state and Ijaw nation to produce the Vice President and later President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the person of Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

“Sadly today, Bayelsans and Ijaws in general are not among the first 40 Nigerians from the offices of the President ,Vice President and Service Chiefs.

“Ijaws have been relegated and rendered politically ,and economically redundant and impotent because we are not with the Government at the centre.

“Ironically,the Ijaws who are the majority in terms of population in the geographic Niger Delta area ( South South ) ,and the fourth largest tribe in the country and the Ijaw nation that contribute well over 65 percent of the oil and gas wealth that are used to run the affairs of the country have been rendered powerless because of our non-alignment with the ruling party.

“Again, there is a power-sharing ,and rotation system between the North and South. The Northern having completed eight (8) years under late former President Muhammadu Buhari, is supposed to support the South  complete its own eight years under incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.,who is working round the clock to strengthen the South.

“Presently, Bayelsa State is standing alone as the only PDP state in the whole of the South South region. The above may not be too much issue.

“The greatest challenge here is the hijack of the PDP by a few individuals and very dangerous traps that they have set for Bayelsans in 2027 , particularly those who intend to fly the flag of the PDP”, the group stated .

Further speaking, Ikuli alleged that plans have been concluded by some forces  hiding under the guise of crisis and countless Court cases in the PDP , to sabotage ,and outrightly abort the political aspirations of candidates come 2027 Polls .

According to the group, such a development will spell doom not only for the candidates concerned ,but for the collective interests of the people of the State.

This is as Ikuli expressed a complete lack of trust and confidence in the ability of the  nascent Coalition platform the African Democratic Congress, ADC, to fill the void that have been created by the near disintegration of the PDP .

He alleged that the Coalition is greatly populated by the same reactionary forces that conspired to deny former president Goodluck Jonathan and the Ijaw nation a second term in office.

“It is based on the above that we unanimously appeal to the Governor to defect to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, to show Southern solidarity with Southern Governors who are with Mr President .

“But as we move forward, one of the greatest priorities in the alliance with the centre should be the actualization of the Agge Seaport that will help to boost the State economy, also bring about unimaginable transformation and prosperity”, the Bayelsa group stated.