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•Tinubu’s love for Ijaw nation made me join APC – Diri
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has declared that Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, would not regret joining the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Shettima, who led the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, his deputy, Barau Jibrin, governors elected on the platform of the party and the National Working Committee (NWC) to welcome Diri into the APC at a colourful ceremony held at the Samson Siasia Stadium, commended the governor for taking the right decision.
Shettima pointed out that the projects Diri listed in the state since the advent of the Tinubu administration is a testament to the politics of development being played by President Tinubu.
“Bayelsa State has chosen national integration over political isolation. APC believes progress can only be made if we stand together. Governor Diri has listed what has come the way of the state since the coming of the present administration. Politics is about development. Politics is beyond making noise. Politics is beyond being in the opposition. Governor Diri, we are immensely proud of you. You have made the right decision. You have proved that good governance is not about noise but impact. President Tinubu has shown us that time and again, politics is not war; it is an art of building bridges across rivers of difference.’’
Diri, in his remarks, stated that the love the President has for the Ijaw nation was one of the motivating factors that made him join the ruling party.
According to him, the Tinubu administration has helped the state with critical projects, demonstrating President Tinubu’s genuine interest in the development of the Ijaw nation.
He noted that he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because the undertakers of the party were determined to bury the party.
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“This defection is not a Bayelsa thing; it is the Ijaw nation defecting to the APC. I would not denigrate my former party. It was a party that gave us everything until undertakers came to destroy it. We did everything to salvage it, but the undertakers were very busy. I even served as the Chairman of the zoning committee because I thought I could salvage it. After seeing that the undertakers wanted to bury the PDP, I did not want my state to be buried.
“We have a President who is attending to the demands of the Ijaw people. I don’t care how much the coastal road will cost, but the President has realised that the road is important to coastal communities.
“For the Nembe/ Brass Road, I went cap in hand to the previous government to take up the second phase, but nobody answered me until President Tinubu approved it.
“Bayelsa imported gas turbines and we were asked to pay N4 billion to clear it. Again, I approached President Tinubu for a waiver and he granted it.’’
Diri, while disclosing that all the leaders of the APC in Bayelsa State have accepted him as the leader, assured that he would work and unite the party.
The National Chairman of APC, Nentawe Yilwatda, noted that Bayelsa is too critical to be left in the hands of the opposition.
He later presented the APC flag and the broom as a symbol of leadership to Diri and pronounced him the leader of the party.
