JUST-IN: Gov Douye Diri formally joins APC

Vice President Kashim Shettima on Monday formally received Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), just 19 days after Diri resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking at the welcome ceremony in Yenagoa, Diri described his defection as a collective decision, saying, “This defection is not a Bayelsa defection; it is the Ijaw nation defecting to the APC.”

The governor explained that he left the PDP because, according to him, some “undertakers” within the party were determined to destroy it. He said he could not allow Bayelsa State “to be buried along with the PDP.”

Diri added that his move to the APC was also to protect members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly from becoming casualties of the lingering crisis within the PDP.

With Diri’s defection, the PDP’s control at the state level has now reduced to eight states nationwide.