From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
A group, Concerned Bayelsa Stakeholders Forum (CBSF), has vowed to stage a rally to persuade Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The convener of the forum, Wisdom Ikuli, in a press conference held at Ayalla Hotels, Yenagoa, stated that as critical stakeholders, it has become imperative to drum up support for Diri’s proposed move to the APC.
Ikuli, who acknowledged Diri’s giant strides in the developmental trajectory of Bayelsa State with his administration’s developmental vision, noted that aligning with the centre would ensure that the Federal Government helps Bayelsa overcome its difficult terrain and attract development.
According to him, following admonitions from the founding fathers of the Ijaw nation, such as High Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye and Chief Melford Okilo, the Ijaw nation aligned with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and eventually helped Bayelsa State and the Ijaw nation to produce the Vice-President and later President of Nigeria.
However, Ikuli pointed out that the current situation is not favourable to the Ijaw nation, as no Ijaw politician is in the top echelon of political leadership in the country.
“Ijaws have been relegated and rendered politically and economically redundant and impotent because we are not with the government at the centre. Ironically, the Ijaws, who are the majority in terms of population in the geographic Niger Delta area (South-South) and the fourth largest tribe in the country that contributes well over 65% of oil and gas wealth that are used to run the affairs of the country, have been rendered powerless because of our non-alignment with the ruling party,” he said.
Ikuli, who reiterated that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is expected to complete eight years of his presidency after the eight years of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, stated that several Bayelsans and Ijaw politicians have been appointed into various positions.
He argued that presently, Bayelsa is the only state in the South-South not in the APC, stressing that there are covert plots to hijack the PDP to set dangerous traps for Bayelsa politicians intending to fly the opposition party flag in the 2027 elections.
Ikuli, while dismissing the coalition as an option, disclosed that to avoid pain and agony, Diri must lead the state and Ijaw nation into the APC and escape the countless court cases being planned to nullify the nomination of PDP candidates.
He urged Diri to disregard voices opposing his defection, adding that the majority of Bayelsans and people of the Ijaw nation are with him.
“The ongoing coalition is also an embodiment of people who conspired to deny Bayelsa State and indeed the entire Ijaw nation a second term at the presidency in 2015. Thus, the coalition can never be an option. It is based on the above that we appeal to Governor Diri to defect to the APC to show Southern solidarity with other Southern governors who are with the President,” he said.
