Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri to Defect to APC on Monday
From Philip Jeremiah Eke
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri is poised to formally join the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, marking a seismic shift in Nigeria’s political landscape and accelerating the opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) ongoing hemorrhage of high-profile members.
Sources close to the negotiations revealed to our correspondent that President Bola Tinubu, alongside APC governors and members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), will personally welcome Diri into the ruling party during a ceremony expected to draw significant national attention.
The move caps weeks of behind-the-scenes talks following Diri’s resignation from the PDP on October 15. Insiders described the discreet negotiations as focused on smoothing the transition for Diri’s political bloc into the APC’s Bayelsa structure, with the delay attributed to efforts to avoid internal clashes ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The integration has to be seamless to prevent any friction,” one party source confided. “This isn’t just about one governor, it’s about bolstering the APC’s foothold in the oil-rich South-South, a region long dominated by the PDP.”
Diri’s defection stands as one of the most consequential realignments in the South-South since the 2023 polls, underscoring the APC’s aggressive strategy to consolidate power in PDP strongholds.
It comes amid a broader wave of departures that has eroded the PDP’s influence, including several National Assembly lawmakers jumping ship in recent months.
The PDP’s woes extend beyond the legislature. This year alone, the party has seen at least four sitting governors defect: Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Peter Mbah of Enugu, and now Diri of Bayelsa.
These exits have slashed the PDP’s governorship tally to just eight, fueling speculation that Taraba’s Agbu Kefas could be the next to cross the floor to the APC.
While some APC figures, like former deputy national publicity secretary Yekini Nabena, have questioned the value Diri brings citing potential destabilization efforts in Bayelsa, the move has been hailed by others as a strategic win.
Party chieftains argue it aligns with President Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda,” promising stability and growth that could sway more defectors.
For Diri, who was elected on a PDP ticket in 2019 and reelected in 2023, the switch represents a calculated pivot amid internal PDP crises and federal incentives.
His bloc, including 23 state lawmakers and six local government chairmen who resigned from the PDP in solidarity, is expected to follow suit, further tilting Bayelsa’s balance toward the APC.
As the dust settles on this latest defection, analysts warn of heightened political jockeying in the Niger Delta, with the APC eyeing total dominance by 2027.
The PDP, meanwhile, faces an existential reckoning, its once-formidable ranks increasingly fragmented by the allure of the ruling party’s machinery.
