A political pressure group, the Concerned Bayelsa Stakeholders Forum, has urged Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The group’s convener, Wisdom Ikuli, made the appeal on Tuesday in Yenagoa, urging stakeholders to support the move to realign Bayelsa with the government at the centre.

Mr Ikuli, who is Governor Diri’s technical adviser on print media, stated that forum is non-partisan and includes members from various political backgrounds, including non-indigenes.

He said Bayelsa must urgently align with the APC, as many PDP figures allegedly conspired to deny Bayelsa and the Ijaws the presidency in 2015.

He alleged that plans are in place to exploit the PDP’s internal crises and litigations to invalidate candidates who emerge from the party ahead of future elections.

Mr Ikuli stressed that Bayelsa remains the only PDP state in the South-south, now controlled by a few individuals who pose electoral risks for 2027.

He revealed that the forum would soon begin daily street rallies in Yenagoa to urge Mr Diri to consider defecting to the ruling APC.

Mr Ikuli insisted that the governor’s defection is in Bayelsa’s best interest and should be considered non-negotiable and sacrosanct.

He recalled that Ijaw leaders like Dappa-Biriye and Melford Okilo advised alignment with the centre for development due to the region’s remoteness.

Mr Ikuli said that past alignment with the PDP, while it ruled nationally, enabled Bayelsa to produce both vice president and president in Goodluck Jonathan.

He lamented that Ijaws are now excluded from top federal roles, including the presidency, vice presidency, and service chiefs, weakening their political relevance.

“In spite of their population and contribution, Ijaws remain marginalised due to a lack of alignment with the ruling party,” Mr Ikuli added.

He argued that the Ijaws, which contribute over 65 per cent of Nigeria’s oil wealth, have become powerless because it isn’t aligned with the federal government.

Mr Ikuli stressed that the south must complete its eight-year turn under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

‘It’s unrealistic to put pressure on Diri’

The spokesperson to Mr Diri, Daniel Alabrah, told PREMIUM TIMES recently that it was unrealistic for anyone to want to put pressure on the governor to declare if he is going to support Mr Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027 or not.

“At the appropriate time, if the governor wants to support the president, he will say so. He is a very courageous man. He will speak at the right time,” Mr Alabrah said.

“Nobody can compel him to speak before that time. The governor will only speak when he believes that this is what will serve the interest of Bayelsa State and the people.”

Mr Alabrah was responding to a comment by the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike’s political ally, George Turnah, challenging Mr Diri to declare whether he would support Mr Tinubu’s re-election bid.

Mr Turnah is the South-South zonal secretary of the PDP. Until 14 February, he was Mr Diri’s executive assistant on public affairs.

The PDP chieftain switched political loyalty from the governor to the FCT minister and is now mobilising political support for Mr Wike and President Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.

The NEW Associates, a political group led by Mr Turnah, organised a pro-Wike rally in Bayelsa in April despite Governor Diri’s opposition. The governor said he did not want the political crisis in Rivers to extend to Bayelsa.

At the rally, Mr Turnah said that Mr Diri has benefited from Mr Tinubu more than any other governor in the South-South, yet the Bayelsa governor was “ungrateful” to the president.

‘Indictment on Nigeria’s democracy’

Governor Diri’s spokesperson, Mr Alabrah, challenged Mr Turnah to explain what he meant when he said that the Bayelsa governor is a beneficiary of the president’s magnanimity.

“From my own understanding, what he was referring to was that the president ensured that there was a level-playing field during the governorship election in 2023 in Bayelsa. So is that something that any right-thinking person will call magnanimity? Is it not an indictment on our democracy? Because that is the only thing he is alluding to,” Mr Alabrah said.

“If you say the governor has benefited from the president’s magnanimity, which means the president would have influenced the election against the governor despite the fact that Bayelsans voted for him?

“When people spread this kind of narrative, what does it tell about our democracy? The president did not do any personal favour to the governor as far as I know. So what is the personal favour that he now has to return that favour by supporting him (the president) in 2027?”

Mr Alabrah said Governor Diri has a “very good relationship” with President Tinubu, only that both leaders belong to different political parties.

“The president belongs to the APC, the governor is a PDP governor. So why would it be the governor that would be shouting about the president when the president is not in his party?

“Are you going to compel somebody to support you? You cannot force somebody to support you. If somebody does not want to vote for you, you cannot force him to vote for you. The truth is that the governor has nothing against the president, and Turnah cannot tell the governor to declare his stance.

“So, every governor in Nigeria must declare whether they are supporting the president or not? Do you have that kind of situation in a democracy? Where does it happen? I am not trying to criticise the president, I am only explaining the ideal situation that we should have. Let it not look like I am talking against the president.

“And look at it, the person that is asking the governor to declare his stance whether he is supporting the president or not, he claims to be a PDP member, he claims to be the PDP South-south zonal secretary,” the governor’s spokesperson said.

Governor Diri is among the top Nigerian leaders who condemned President Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers as a fallout of the political fight between Mr Wike and the suspended Governor of Rivers, Siminalayi Fubara.

Many opposition politicians, especially from the PDP, including Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, have defected to the ruling APC, raising concern that Nigeria may become a one-party state.

PDP is the ruling party only in Bayelsa and Rivers out of the six states in the south-south region.

While Mr Fubara remained suspended as governor because of the emergency rule in Rivers, Governor Diri dismissed speculations in June that he was planning to defect to the APC.

(NAN)