Nearly two weeks after the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on whose umbrella he was elected governor, he has not been able to move to his dream political land, the All Progressives Congress, APC, because of the governorship ambition of some leaders in the APC, New Daily Prime, has gathered.
Diri, who left the PDP with most of the PDP members in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and other political appointees, is facing a tough challenge of being accepted in the APC he is heading to.
It was further learned that top on the list of those standing as stumbling blocks on his was to his dream political land are the current Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and another former governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva.
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The trio are eyeing the governorship ticket of the APC in the next election coming up late 2027.
Diri is not eligible for another election as he is a second term governor.
The bone of contention, NDP gathered, has to do with Diri becoming the automatic leader of the party in the state and having to exercise great influence on who will be the party’s candidate in the election.
Recall that Diri was singlehandedly picked by the immediate past governor, Senator Seriake Dickson in 2019.
Dickson has said he is still in the PDP and wondered why Diri would leave the party since he is not seeking another governorship ticket.
“The infighting and the hostile nature of current leaders of the APC to Diri is not unconnected to the governorship ticket of the party. Ogbuku of NDDC is interested in the governorship, same for Sylva and Lokpobiri. Ogbuku is already working on that using his current position as the launch pad. Sylva spent only a term and wants to do another and Lokpobiri is also eyeing the same office.
“What happened in nearby Delta State where the governor took over everything as soon as he defected to the APC has taught people some lessons. They don’t want a repeat of such here. You can see that Diri has not named the party he is going though it is clear it is the APC, but those he is going to meet there are no fools. He cannot just come and shove them aside,” a source told our correspondent.
Sources said Diri and the leaders of the APC both at state and federal levels are working on a deal to pacify all parties.
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Recall that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Senator Adolphus Wabara, recently took a swipe at Diri, saying since he cannot be a party less governor, he should vacate office after abandoning the part that made him governor in the first instance.
