Ofonime UMANAH
Will the governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri succumb to the mounting pressure from The Presidency and other quarters for him to dump the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC?
This is one question to which answers are needed especially as the governor is said to remain committed to his political party in the face of the confusion that has continued to trail the leadership of the PDP, particularly over the issue of who occupies the office of national secretary.
TNN learnt that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s men have been putting pressure on Diri to join the APC fold, especially since the PDP leaders have refused to put their house in order.
It was learnt that his former colleagues in the National Assembly who are now in the APC, some top presidential aides as well as some of the governors that have already moved into the APC, have not allowed Diri any breathing space in the recent past.
In fact, one of the top leaders in The Presidency was said to have told the governor to name what he would want from the APC government and consider same granted, because, according to our source, “there is a very high desperation by the APC to have our governor in their fold.
“They have been disturbing the man. The pressure increases with each passing day. They believe that if they can get Diri into their fold, then they have succeeded in getting the Ijaw Nation and indeed the entire south south.
“What we are seeing now appears to be an organized agenda towards getting the governor at all costs. But the governor has not told anybody anything. Right now, he is busy with his work and does not seem to be interested in their offer, even though he is also not happy with what is going on in his party.”
TNN gathered on Monday that the APC agents believe that they have already got the suspended governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, in the bag and was not bothered about him at all. In fact, one source said the party was only waiting for the day Fubara would announce his defection to the APC.
“For now, Fubara’s case is almost considered a done deal. He is already in the bag and you know that he cannot say he would not join the APC. The only thing that is not clear as at today is the date he would dump the PDP.
“Diri is the major issue now. But I can tell you that part of the reasons for the PDP crisis that has refused to die is to heat up the place in such a way that people like Diri will have no choice than to get angry and quit.”
Sources within the Bayelsa PDP confided in TNN that many APC leaders in the state were actually getting worried about what would happen to them and their leadership positions if Diri agrees to join their fold.
Even though he said he was almost certain that Diri would not bow to the heightening pressure, he said some of the APC leaders were also praying that Diri should not succumb, as his entrance would cause serious issues in the state.
As at now, there are two factions of the APC in Bayelsa, with Chief Timipre Sylva leading one of the factions, while Senator Heineken Lokpobiri leads the other. The state secretariat on the Mbiama-Yenagoa road is where the Sylva camp operates from, while the secretariat on the Isaac Boro Expressway belongs to the Lokpobiri camp.
As at Monday morning, there were signals that Diri was going to attend the NEC meeting of the PDP in Abuja, an indication that his heart and soul were still with the PDP.
None of his aides were however willing to talk on the issue when TNN reached them for comments.
