Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State was formally welcomed into the fold of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at a well attended reception held in his honour at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa, the state capital, on Monday, November 3, 2025. Not even the early morning showers, which lasted for about four hours, could deter the enthusiastic crowd of Bayelsans who trooped to the venue in their hundreds.
Many of them waited patiently from 10 a.m. until 4:20 p.m., when the historic event officially kicked off with the rendition of the country’s national anthem.
From Sunday evening, there were visible signs that something significant was about to happen in Bayelsa, a state the APC narrowly missed governing in 2019. Colourful APC pole banners and posters adorned major streets of Yenagoa, including the entrance of the city, welcoming visitors ahead of the event.
The governor was received by President Bola Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima. Also in attendance were Senate President Godswill Akpabio, ten APC governors, members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by the national chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda and other top party chieftains.
Daily Sun recalls that in the 2019 governorship election, the APC candidate, David Lyon, had convincingly defeated Douye Diri with 352,552 votes to 143,172. However, barely 24 hours to the inauguration, the Supreme Court upheld a Federal High Court judgment disqualifying Lyon’s deputy governor-elect, Degi Eremienyo, for presenting a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The ruling dashed the APC’s dream of taking over the Bayelsa Government House in February 2020. But all that is now history, as Lyon himself was among the party stalwarts on hand to welcome Governor Diri into the APC.
The aircraft conveying Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Tinubu at the event, touched down at the Bayelsa International Airport at exactly 2:55 p.m. on Monday. Following a brief ceremony at the airport, the VP and other dignitaries proceeded to the Samson Siasia Stadium, arriving at about 4:18 p.m. to the warm embrace of a cheering crowd, many of whom proudly donned the Tinubu signature cap.
Dressed in traditional Ijaw attire with a matching cap, Shettima and the governors waved to the jubilant crowd, who responded with equal enthusiasm.
Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State was the first to address the gathering. He commended Governor Diri for “seeing the light” and praised President Tinubu for providing exemplary leadership that continues to attract opposition governors into the APC.
Next to speak was the senate president, Senator Godswill Akpabio. Like Uzodinma, he also commended Diri for the step he took to join the mainstream, declaring that “come 2027, Tinubu and Shettima would be returned unopposed in the South-South.”
He told the gathering that two out of the three senators from Bayelsa, had joined the APC as well. He, thereafter, invited one of the senators, Konbowei Benson, to confirm what he said and also invited another ex-lawmaker from the state, Senator Ben Bruce to salute the crowd, apparently to drive home his point that all the who is who, politically in the state are now in the APC. He rounded off his remarks with a song “we have decided to follow Tinubu, we have decided to follow APC, we have decided to follow Tinubu, no turning back, no turning back,” that was chorused by the enthusiastic crowd.
Once he was done, APC’s National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, took the stage to thank the people of Bayelsa for taking the right decision, saying the Ijaw nation has spoken in one voice through the governor.
“Bayelsa State has spoken. Today, Bayelsa State is APC. Bayelsa State is too critical for us to leave it in the hands of the PDP. The roads have been constructed. We saw it. We saw the fishes in the fish farms. We saw agriculture booming. We saw trading. We saw everything doing good.
“Therefore, Governor Diri is welcome to the family of the APC. I now give him this flag as the leader of the party in the state. He takes over as the leader of APC in Bayelsa State. And anything concerning Bayelsa State, the National Working Committee will contact Governor Diri.
“I will hold him responsible for APC in the state. Today, you take over as a leader of our party in Bayelsa State. Welcome, our leader in Bayelsa,” the APC Chairman said.
He thereafter handed a broom, the symbol of the party to the governor, saying “Take this broom as a symbol of our party. Sweep out PDP, and ensure that the votes are swept in. In 2027, sweep in all the votes for APC,” he charged.
Governor Diri spoke next. He began with his acknowledgement of the Ijaw nation by hailing the crowd in the traditional Ijaw way, shaking all his body. He declared that as he was joining the APC, he could see everything turning around for the good of the state and the people of the state. He rounded off the introduction with the singing of Tinubu’s anthem “On your mandate we shall stand….”
He singled out the vice president for special recognition, recalling their cordial working relationship when he served as Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior while Shettima was also in the Senate. Once done with the preliminary, the governor said “October 15 this year, I did something in consultation with the leaders and elders of Bayelsa State. I resigned my membership of the PDP for obvious reasons. This defection is not only for Bayelsa. It is for Ijaws in Ondo, Edo, Delta and Rivers.
“Somebody had to take the decision (to leave the PDP) and I took it on behalf of the state. I took it in the best interest of the state. Some of you might not understand now but later, it will be clear to all. When we came in as a government, what we did at the beginning was to ensure that most of the uncompleted projects were completed and we introduced new ones. That alone is enough reason to thank God.
“The peace and security we are enjoying is another reason to thank God. Politics is for development and not to kill your brother. The gathering here is a testimony of the unity in the state,” Diri said.
While explaining the efforts he and others made to salvage the PDP, Diri noted that he would not denigrate his former party because it provided the platform for them to attain their current political height, but added that they had to leave the “sinking ship” when it became obvious that the party had been hijacked by undertakers who were determined to destroy it, saying that “we had no choice than to join the ruling party to protect the political future of the state.”
From Ismail Omipidan, in Yenagoa
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