The Bayelsa Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and five aides of Governor Douye Diri have resigned and defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the November 11 governorship election in the state,
Daily Trust reports that the defectors are Nunieh Odede (PDP youth leader), Abiah Joseph Oyisor, Hon Ayaye Obuma, Hon Itu Goodluck, Hon Timipa Ile and Hon Olali Suwofien.
According to the report, they all declared their readiness to work for the victory of Chief Timipre Sylva, the candidate of the APC, for the governorship election.
In a letter on Monday to the leadership of the PDP in the state, Nunieh announced his resignation from the PDP, while other principal aides of the governor vacated their offices to campaign for the APC.
Nunieh, who later led other decampees to meet with the APC candidate, said:
“We have spent years with the PDP and built the party to where it is. It is imperative we move on now in light of what is happening in the state. Bayelsa is comatose, and we cannot keep doing the old things and expect to get it right.
“Our resignation from the PDP is to save our dear state from further ruin.”
A media aide to Chief Sylva, Julius Bokoru, confirmed that Sylva received the defectors and commended their courage by choosing the progress and development of the state over “selfish gains”.
He said, “Youths are always the driving force of every society; youths also embody and give a trajectory of what the future would look like.
“Your decision today is heroic and selfless; you have placed state over self and beyond even the elections. You instil in us all that Bayelsa State is bound to do well.”
