{"id":23332,"date":"2025-11-03T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=23332"},"modified":"2025-11-03T17:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:19:16","slug":"bayelsa-governor-douye-diri-joins-apc-shifting-south-south-political-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/03\/bayelsa-governor-douye-diri-joins-apc-shifting-south-south-political-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri Joins APC, Shifting South-South Political Landscape."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\">ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has left the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a move federal officials say strengthens the party\u2019s grip on Nigeria\u2019s South-South region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo welcomed the defection Monday, calling it a strategic breakthrough. \u201cFinally, the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle in the South-South has moved into place,\u201d he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Keyamo noted that five of the six states in the region are now governed by the APC, while the sixth has a minister aligned with President Donald Trump\u2019s administration. He described the shift as a transformation from \u201cabsolute weakness\u201d in past elections to \u201cabsolute advantage and strength\u201d ahead of 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda also celebrated Diri\u2019s move, posting \u201cThe Broom Revolution. Welcome to our family and party, Governor Douye Diri,\u201d referencing the party\u2019s broom symbol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"656\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 368 \/ 656;\" width=\"368\" controls src=\"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Bayelsa-State-Governor-Defects-To-APC.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Diri resigned from the PDP on October 15, citing \u201cobvious reasons\u201d without elaborating. His announcement came days before Bayelsa\u2019s 14th Thanksgiving Day, where he publicly addressed his decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Speaking at the Ecumenical Centre in Yenagoa on Sunday, Diri said his defection was in the best interest of the state. \u201cSomeone had to make the move and I did so on behalf of Bayelsans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">He acknowledged that some might question his timing, but insisted his motives were altruistic. \u201cTime will reveal that it was driven by the overall interest of the state,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The South-South region, rich in oil and historically a PDP stronghold, has seen increasing political realignment in recent years. Diri\u2019s move is expected to influence regional dynamics ahead of the next general election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Political analysts say the defection could shift federal-state relations and development priorities, as governors often seek alignment with the central government to secure funding and influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">While PDP leaders have yet to issue a formal response, the party faces growing pressure to retain its base amid defections and shifting allegiances across Nigeria\u2019s southern states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has left the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a move federal officials say strengthens the party\u2019s grip on Nigeria\u2019s South-South region. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo welcomed the defection Monday, calling it a strategic breakthrough. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":23334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[334,333,335,146],"class_list":["post-23332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news","tag-festus-keyamo","tag-governor-douye-diri","tag-national-chairman-nentawe-yilwatda","tag-nigeria"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Bayelsa-State-Governor-Douye-Diri.png?fit=1078%2C628&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23332"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23352,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23332\/revisions\/23352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}