By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu, Yenagoa
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda, has charged Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, to ensure a sweeping victory for the ruling party and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
Yilwatda gave the directive on Monday during the official defection ceremony of Governor Diri and some members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC. The event, held at the Sampson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa, drew a large crowd of supporters and party leaders.
The APC chairman, while presenting the party’s symbol — the broom — to Diri, described Bayelsa as a strategic state for the APC and urged the governor to consolidate the party’s structure in the South-South region.
“Take this broom as a symbol of authority and unity. Sweep out the PDP and ensure all votes are swept into the APC in 2027,” Yilwatda said. “Today, Bayelsa State is APC. Governor Diri is now the leader of our party in the state, and the National Working Committee will liaise with him on all Bayelsa matters.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who led top APC leaders to the event, also declared Governor Diri as the new leader of the party in Bayelsa. He urged other members to rally behind him for the success of the APC in the state.
Shettima highlighted the political advantage of aligning with the ruling party at the federal level, saying history had shown that regions that worked with the centre benefited from greater development and opportunities.
The event was attended by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Governors Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo), Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), and Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), among other dignitaries.
In his remarks, Governor Diri said his decision to leave the PDP followed extensive consultations with stakeholders in Bayelsa. He described his defection as a “strategic and collaborative decision” aimed at ensuring the state’s accelerated development.
He said: “The unity and common purpose that once sustained the PDP eroded over time. Despite our best efforts to restore it, internal dynamics made renewal increasingly difficult. After wide consultations, we have today formally joined the APC.”
Diri expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for his leadership and commitment to the Niger Delta, citing the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, the Nembe-Brass Road, and the Agge Deep Seaport projects as examples of the President’s attention to Bayelsa’s development needs.
He added that aligning with the federal government would help unlock Bayelsa’s economic potential and bring more benefits to the people.
“I pledge to continue to work constructively with the federal government and support President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027,” Diri declared. “Bayelsa is too small and too close-knit to be divided by partisan bitterness. Our strength comes from unity.”
With Diri’s defection, the PDP has now lost four sitting governors this year — Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Peter Mbah of Enugu, and Douye Diri of Bayelsa — to the ruling APC, signaling a major political realignment ahead of 2027.