The Digest:
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The high-profile switch, celebrated at a packed rally in Yenagoa, marks a major blow to the opposition and realigns the oil-rich state with the federal government for the first time since 2015.
Key Points:
- The unity and common purpose that once held the PDP together had completely eroded.
- Internal conflicts and dynamics made it impossible to renew or rebuild the party.
- “Undertakers” were determined to bury the PDP, and Diri refused to let Bayelsa be buried with it.
- He sought to protect state and federal lawmakers from being stranded without a viable re-election platform.
- Diri was isolated as the last PDP governor in the South-South region.
- The decision followed wide consultations and was made in the interest of Bayelsa’s people.
- President Bola Tinubu was described as “a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”
- Tinubu commenced the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, a key project long demanded by the Ijaw nation.
- The President did not deploy “federal might” to influence Diri’s re-election bid.
- The Nembe-Brass Road, stalled for 60 years, received prompt attention under the Tinubu administration.
- The federal government waived a significant tax burden on Bayelsa’s importation of 60MW gas turbines.
- The APC-led government endorsed the Agge Deep Seaport, a major development project for the state.
- Diri stated it was logical to align with a leadership that acts in Bayelsa’s best interest.
- With Tinubu actively supporting the state’s development, remaining in the PDP made no sense.
- He was warmly received into a united APC family in Bayelsa with no internal divisions.
Sources: Vanguard
