By Ayomide Otitoju
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), deepening the crisis within Nigeria’s main opposition party.
Diri made the announcement on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, during a meeting with top government officials at the Executive Council Chamber of the Bayelsa State Government House in Yenagoa.
“After extensive consultations, today, October 15, 2025, I wish to notify you that, in keeping with extant protocols, I, Governor Douye Diri, do hereby resign my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party,” he declared.
Although he did not reveal the political party he plans to join, sources within the state government suggest he may be aligning with the All Progressives Congress (APC), following the recent defection of several PDP governors.
Diri stated that all local government chairmen in the state would move with him, while 23 out of 24 members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Abraham Ngobere, also declared their support for his decision. The Speaker said the PDP no longer had the capacity to present a credible presidential candidate or win the 2027 general election.
The defection comes barely 24 hours after Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah left the PDP for the APC, citing his desire to better serve the people of his state. Their exits follow earlier moves by Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno, who both joined the ruling party earlier in the year.
Responding to the wave of defections, PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba described the governors’ actions as disappointing but insisted the party would bounce back.
“People have a right to decide what they want to do; the consequences can follow,” Ologunagba said on Channels Television. “Our national convention in Ibadan this November will help reposition the PDP and rebuild from its foundation.”
President Bola Tinubu, meanwhile, said the APC would continue to welcome defectors from opposition parties, adding that it was not his duty to “fix” the internal problems of rival parties.
“Political parties fearful of members leaving should examine their internal affairs,” Tinubu said during his Democracy Day address to the National Assembly. “For me, it is indeed a pleasure to witness them in such disarray.”
Once formally received into the APC, Diri’s defection will leave the PDP with only one governor in the South-South and South-East regions—Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara—and eight governors nationwide, marking one of the steepest declines in the party’s history.
