JUST IN: Another PDP governor set to join APC

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, is reportedly set to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on October 14, 2025, according to investigations by The Sun.

The long-rumored defection, which has been a topic of political speculation for months, is now said to have a confirmed date. Sources close to the governor revealed that Diri has been quietly finalizing plans for the move, keeping the process discreet due to internal rifts within the APC’s Bayelsa chapter.

Reports suggest that the governor’s cautious approach stems from tensions between factions loyal to different power blocs in the party — particularly the group aligned with Chief Timipre Sylva, a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and influential APC figure in the state.

Findings indicated that Diri’s main reason for exiting was linked to the intractable crisis rocking the party, which has made it no longer attractive to the governor and majority of his political associates to pursue their political ambitions in 2027.

“Senator Konbowei Benson is going with the governor.

“The defection may be next week.”

A chieftain of the APC in the state, from the governor’s local government area, who pleaded anonymity, said he was aware that plans had been finalised for the governor to cross over to the party.

The chieftain, a former lawmaker, was upbeat about the governor’s defection, stressing that the party was waiting to welcome and receive him.

When contacted, the APC Chairman in the state, Dr. Dennis Otiotio, said he was not aware of the governor’s defection.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Daniel Alabrah, also said he was not aware of Diri’s plan to defect.

Meanwhile, the PDP leadership in the state is polarised over the decision of the governor to dump the ruling party in the state.

Already, the opposition from the majority of the National Assembly members is an indication that some leading members have rejected the defection plans and are ready to stick with the PDP.

Some leading PDP members were said to have expressed misgivings about the defection and blamed some young Turks around the governor, desperate to reconfigure the power balance in the state, as the people behind the scene pressuring him to defect.

A top member of the party said: “Some of the people who were not anywhere when we fought to bring the governor in 2019 and 2023 are the people he is listening to.

“They are not popular, and they want to contest the election to take power by force.

“They believe that by joining the APC, they will use federal might to win the election.”

It was gathered that Senator Dickson, who had kept his distance from the Diri administration, was not consulted on the defection plan because the governor knew he would shoot down the idea.

Sources said those opposed to Diri’s defection are likely to persuade Dickson to be the leading light of the opposition when Bayelsa State becomes an APC state under Diri.