Political Undertakers Are Desperate To Bury PDP – Gov. Douye Diri

Douye Diri

Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress. He recently revealed that he defected to protect Bayelsa State from sinking with the PDP.

Speaking during a grand reception held at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa, Diri said that he resigned from the PDP after failing to stabilise the party despite his huge efforts.

According to him, certain political undertakers have taken hold of the party’s structures, so he had to jump ship before the PDP crashed completely.

He stated that after several consultations with prominent leaders around him, defecting became the only option.

“We tried all we could to save the PDP but to no avail. Undertakers were very busy to bury the PDP.

After seeing that the undertakers wanted to bury the PDP, I never wanted my state to be buried alongside with PDP

So knowing what was going on, after all my consultations with all the leaders, it was incumbent on me as governor to make a decision,” he said.

Gov. Douye Diri further noted that the defection is not just a Bayelsa political shift, but a wider Ijaw realignment.

He concluded by referencing his history as an Ijaw activist, stressing that he has been part of longstanding agitations for the coastal road project linking Lagos to Calabar.

“This defection is not a Bayelsa defection. It is the Ijaw nation defecting to APC.

We as Ijaw people, I was an activist, National Organising Secretary of the Ijo National Congress.

Long in the military regime, we requested a coastal road from Lagos to Calabar.

Bring those documents. Memorandum on the demands by the Ijo ethnic nationality submitted to the Head of State… the major demand here was the construction of the coastal roads from Lagos to Calabar.

I don’t care how much the coastal road will cost. Today, we have a President who has come to realise that this coastal road is important to the people of the coastal area, majority of whom are Ijaw people.

There is only one way a governor will lose his office, by impeachment from the State House of Assembly.

And in this situation, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and the majority of the members are going with me,” he added.