Residents of Yenagoa, the capital city of Bayelsa State, were enthralled by renewed hope on Monday, as Vice President Kashim Shettima formally received Governor Douye Diri and his teeming supporters into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Shettima described the occasion as one of “those rare and redemptive moments” in Nigeria’s political history, noting that the Governor has demonstrated the people’s preference for the light of national integration over the shadows of political isolation.
Speaking during the grand reception of Governor Diri and his supporters into the APC fold at the Samson Siasia Sports Stadium in Yenagoa, the Vice President, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the event, welcomed the Governor into the party at the centre, which he described as “the house of progress” where Diri’s vision belongs.
“Your Excellency, Governor Douye Diri, this gathering is a homecoming party for you. We are here not for a ceremony of convenience but for a celebration of your conviction. Yours is the story of a leader who has chosen the harder right over the easier wrong. Today, you have shown us that Bayelsa State has chosen the light of national integration over the shadows of political isolation,” he told the Governor.
Shettima said while President Tinubu has demonstrated repeatedly that politics is not war but the “art of building bridges across rivers of difference,” Governor Diri has shown profound understanding of that metaphor.
According to him: “The All Progressives Congress is the party of those who believe that progress can only be guaranteed when we stand together, when we answer the call of the people. And, in many ways, Your Excellency, your story mirrors that of your people. You have led with calm dignity, but beneath that calm has flowed a restless comitment to development, to unity, and to peace”.
Receiving the Governor and his teeming supporters into the party fold on behalf of President Tinubu and the entire APC family, the Vice President described Diri as “a son of the creeks who has built literal and political bridges across the waters of the Niger Delta.”
He noted that Governor Diri’s defection from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the governing APC “is a political reunion with a progressive mind whose ideals have always aligned with the philosophy” of the governing party.
“We are not a house of strangers; we are a family bound by the shared belief that Nigeria can, and must, work for all her citizens. And we know you, Your Excellency. We know you as a builder — a builder of infrastructure, a builder of peace, a builder of trust, a builder of the Bayelsa dream”.
Shettima assured the Governor that he won’t be judged by where he was coming from but by where he is going to, observing however that Diri’s arrival in the APC “is not the depletion of the opposition” but the “confirmation of the pulse and constitutional clarity of Africa’s largest democracy—the freedom of choice.”
Noting that Diri and his supporters were now part of a progressive family that “thinks and acts together”, the Vice President assured the Governor of the party’s support, as he champions what he had always done – purposeful governance.
“From the health reforms that give hope to the sick to the schools that have opened the gates of opportunity to thousands of children, we are here to restore the confidence and dignity of those who have lost faith in government,” he stated.
Shettima told the people of Bayelsa that it was their faith in governance that brought their Governor to the APC, a house of progress adding for effect: “This is about the roof over all our heads — the roof called Nigeria. We have found out, through experience, that no one prospers under a leaking roof. The house must stand strong, united, and inclusive.
“So, Your Excellency, on behalf of our leader and President, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR. the leadership of our great party, and the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I welcome you to a family that rewards excellence, a family that respects loyalty, and a family that honours service,” Senator Shettima further stated.
Earlier, Senate President Godswill Akpabio congratulated Governor Diri for taking what he termed “a bold step in the right direction.”
He described Diri’s decision as a defining moment for the Ijaw nation and the entire South-South region.
Akpabio commended the Bayelsa Governor’s infrastructural strides, especially the dualised roads across Yenagoa, acknowledging that the cost of such projects in a riverine state was enormous.
On his part, National Chairman of the APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, assured Governor Diri and his supporters of the party’s support at the national level, noting that they are at home in APC.
“The party’s National Working Committee, millions of members of the APC family in Nigeria and other stakeholders have welcomed the Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri, to the Progressive family,” Yilwatda stated.
Also, Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) and Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, commended Governor Diri for what he described as “a progressive and courageous decision taken at the right time.”
Uzodimma noted that the decision to join the government at the centre was a confirmation that Nigerians are beginning to recognise the leadership qualities of President Tinubu.
“We are highly joyed to observe that Nigerians are uniting under one purpose – love for our country,” the PGF Chairman declared, emphasizing that Nigeria has no room for ethnic or religious differences, even as he assury that APC governors would continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
In his remarks, Governor Diri explained that his decision to dump the PDP for the APC followed deep consultations with stakeholders across the state, saying internal crises within the PDP, coupled with his desire to protect the interest of Bayelsans, informed his defection.
“Some ignorant people said I had lost my office. There is only one way a Governor can lose his office by impeachment from the State House of Assembly. And in this case, the Speaker and majority of members are with me,” he stated.
Diri added that he was not motivated by personal ambition but by the need to align Bayelsa with a national leadership that values development.
The Governor recalled his long-standing advocacy for the construction of a coastal road linking Lagos to Calabar, a demand championed by the Ijaw Nation since the late 1990s.
“Today, President Bola Tinubu is the first to take that demand seriously,” he said, adding that the project symbolizes inclusion for the people of the Niger Delta.
The Governor concluded by declaring that Bayelsa’s future lies with the progressives, promising to deliver more development and unity for the people.
Highlight of the event was the handing over of the party’s flag to the Governor by the National Chairman of APC.
Deji Elumoye
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