By Foster Akpore | Oghwoghwa Reporters | October 15, 2025
Warri — Barely three months after urging Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ijaw leader and Chairman of the South-South Reawakening Group, Comrade Joseph Ambakederimo, appears vindicated as reports emerge that Governor Diri has resigned from the PDP alongside 23 members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly.
The startling development, confirmed through a Facebook post by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, signals what political observers describe as a major realignment in the South-South political landscape. Sources within the Government House suggest that Governor Diri and the lawmakers are expected to formally announce their defection to the APC within days.
Joseph Ambakederimo, who also serves as Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Community Development Committees (CDCs) of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas, had earlier in July publicly called on Diri and Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to “make the switch now for greater political realignment,” insisting that such a move would not be an act of betrayal but a strategic decision for regional advancement.
Speaking then in Port Harcourt, Ambakederimo had stated that the PDP no longer represented the aspirations of the Ijaw people nor possessed the structure to drive meaningful development in the region.
“Politics is a game of interest. Governor Diri should join the APC because the Ijaw people no longer have a stake under the umbrella,” he said. “Our people need to have a seat at the table where decisions are made. Anything less is illusionary.”
He further argued that Bayelsa, being the only homogeneous Ijaw state, must be fully integrated with the government at the centre to attract sustainable development and infrastructural progress.
With Tuesday’s reported resignation, analysts believe Diri may be aligning with Ambakederimo’s vision for a united South-South bloc within the ruling party.
Ambakederimo, reacting briefly through his media aide, expressed satisfaction with the Governor’s decision, describing it as “a courageous step in the right direction.”
“History will vindicate this choice. It is not about party loyalty but about the future of our people,” he said.
The reported defection, if officially confirmed, is expected to reshape Bayelsa’s political climate ahead of the 2027 elections and deepen the APC’s inroads into the South-South, a region long considered a PDP stronghold.
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