As political activities gather momentum towards the 2027 elections, the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Dr Peter Akpe, has urged members and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to anchor their political messages on truth and be issue-based in all their interactions.
Dr Akpe gave the charge at a meeting in Yenagoa during which some members of the newly formed Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) from Sagbama Town, headquarters of Sagbama Local Government Area, formally declared their defection to the ruling APC.
The Deputy Governor maintained that elections should not be seen as a do or die affair, but rather, as a leadership recruitment process in which all participants must allow themselves to be guided by the rules and regulations governing it.
He advised APC faithful in the state to toe the line of their leader, Governor Douye Diri, by being focused on issues, and not to cast aspersions and insults on personalities, no matter the level of provocation.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the meeting, Dr Akpe, thanked the defectors for voluntarily joining the Governor Diri’s Team to work for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
He described Sagbama Town as very strategic and sensitive in the politics of the Bayelsa West Senatorial District in terms of the massive support and results it has always produced for every ruling party in the state.
His words: “I’m delighted to join other leaders of our party, the APC, to receive our brothers and sisters who have had a rethink and have made up their minds to join the APC.
“These are some of the persons who probably were not properly informed about what was going on. But, today, they have taken a decision to come back to their political fold, which is the APC, to work with His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri to ensure the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
“What you are seeing is just from Sagbama Town, which is a strategic community because it is the headquarters of Sagbama Local Government Area, and also, the headquarters of the Bayelsa West Senatorial District.
“It is strategic and sensitive because from our political history, it has always produced impressive results. Empirically, the quantum of support and results that come from there is something you don’t toy with. So, for this people to have come out, I don’t know who is still left there.”
In his remarks, Leader of the NDC Defectors, Mr Nanakumo Robert, popularly known as Obama, said he and his supporters decided to join the APC after a careful consideration of development efforts of the present administration as well as the political dynamics of the state and the country at large.
Describing the Senator Douye Diri-led administration as one of the best in the state, especially in terms of infrastructural development, he promised to give maximum support to the APC to enable it achieve, at least, a 70 percent success rate in the area in the forthcoming elections.
Mr Robert, who thanked Governor Diri for appointing Dr Akpe from Bayelsa West Senatorial District to replace their departed son, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, said he was defecting to the APC with over 100 supporters in the collective interest of the area.
He said: “First, I want to thank our Governor His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, for looking into Bayelsa West again and appointing our brother and leader as deputy governor to replace our late father, brother and leader. We thank him so much.
“We are also impressed with the development efforts of the Governor. Since my political journey of about 20 years now, I have not seen a workaholic governor like Senator Douye Diri. I’m not saying this to impress anybody. We are talking about critical infrastructure here.
“Without mincing words, this is one of the best democratic settings I have ever seen in Bayelsa. And so, we have come in our numbers to support you and the governor to enable you to succeed very well in Sagbama and beyond.”
Also speaking, a stakeholder of the APC in Sagbama, Mr Sinkumoh Ekiseh, and the state Vice Chairman of the Party, Bayelsa West Senatorial District, Mr Akuakwa B. Akuakwa, who received the defectors, stressed the need for teamwork and assured them of equal opportunities and benefits in the party’s scheme of things.
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