- Safiu Kehinde
Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has described his defection to the All Progressives Congress as a defection of not just Bayelsa state but a movement of the entire Ijaw nation to the ruling party.
Diri had on Monday officially decamped to the APC weeks after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party alongside members of his cabinet and the state House of Assembly lawmakers.
Addressing Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu, at the official defection rally held in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa governor described his defection as the movement of the entire Ijaw nation to the APC.
He said that the entire Ijaw nation, including those from Ondo, Edo, and Delta states, are also part of the movement.
“Your Excellency, the Vice President, here you see it’s not just Bayelsas alone. There are Ijaw from Delta State in their numbers who are here.
“There are Ijaws from Ondo state in their numbers who are here. There are Ijaws from Edo State in their numbers here.
“This is defection is not a Bayelsa defection. It is a whole nation defecting to APC.” Diri said.
The governor declared his support for Tinubu as he hailed the President over the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway construction.
He disclosed that the project was part of the Ijaw National Congress’ demand during the military regime of Gen. Abdusalam Abubakar.
Diri who was the group’s National Organising Secretary during the Abubakar’s administration defended his claim by reading out a copy of the Ijaw memorandum of demands tendered to the then military government.
As contained in the memorandum, the group had prioritised the construction of the coastal highway as their main demand.
Diri lauded Tinubu for meeting the demand of the Ijaw people.
“I was an activist, National Organising Secretary of Ijaw National Congress. During the military regime, we requested for a coastal road from Lagos to Calabar.
“Today, we have a President that is attending do the demand of the Ijaw people. I don’t care how much the coastal road will cost.
“But a President has come to realise that this coastal road is important to the people of the coastal area majority of whom are Ijaw people.
“Are we going to leave that type of man?” The Bayelsa governor wrote.
Diri’s official defection ceremony had in attendance members of the APC governors forum, National Assembly lawmakers, and members of the party’s National Working Committee.