A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, has stated that the planned defection of the governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, would not yield the impact he might be anticipating.
Speaking with newsmen on Friday, he claimed that Diri is expected to formally defect to the APC on Monday and is “working to destroy the existing leadership of the party before jumping ship.”
He also claimed that the loyalists of the governor were responsible for the arrest rumours linking the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, to an alleged coup plot.
He argued that the Bayelsa governor “will join APC empty-handed” since most key figures in the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were not defecting with him, unlike what recently occurred in Delta and Enugu states.
He also accused loyalists of the governor of stoking arrest rumours, linking the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, to an alleged coup plot.
Nabena described the arrest rumours as a deliberate attempt to smear Ogbuku’s reputation and destabilise the existing leadership structure of the APC in Bayelsa State.
He said, “Let me put it on record that we are not saying the Governor should not join the APC, it is a democracy and he has the right to join any party. The fact we will not take is for him to destroy some people and the existing leadership of the APC in Bayelsa state because he wants to take full control of the party.
“We have traced the recent happenings in Bayelsa state to Governor Douye Diri’s camp, especially the arrest rumours of NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku.
“The plan is to destroy the existing organs and prominent members of the party before he (Governor Diri) formally decamps to APC on Monday.
“But up till now, we have not found an answer to the question of what Governor Douye Diri is bringing to the APC. This is a Governor that his Deputy is not defecting with him, hence he is plotting to impeach the Deputy Governor.
“This is a Governor that even some State House of Assembly members have rejected. About 90 per cent of the serving National Assembly members, including Senator Dickson and other high-profile lawmakers, are not on the same page with him.
“This is a Governor who is not in control of his local constituency, not to talk of his entire Senatorial District. We ask Governor Douye Diri again to tell Nigerians who is running after him or what is he running after?”
Nabena further claimed that several prominent Bayelsa PDP figures remain aligned with Ogbuku’s leadership and are more inclined to join President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda through the NDDC boss “at the right time.”
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