YENAGOA, BAYELSA STATE – In a truly unprecedented display of political solidarity that has sent shockwaves across the Niger Delta region, prominent figures from opposing political camps and neighboring states converged on the Samson Siasia Sports Complex on Monday, marking a seismic shift in regional alliances.
The event, ostensibly the formal reception of Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, into the All Progressives Congress (APC), became a potent symbol of cross-border political unity and the crumbling of traditional partisan barriers.
At the center of this remarkable convergence was Great Joshua MacIver, the Deputy Governorship Candidate of the APC in the 2023 Bayelsa State election. MacIver was notably captured in a warm display of camaraderie alongside key leaders from the All progressive congress (APC) and from the Ijaw-Ilaje federal constituency in Ondo State.
The leaders who joined the great Joshua MacIver to receive Governor and Diri and his people from the opposition people’s Democratic party (PDP) include: Rt. Hon. Emomotimi Dennis Guwor, the highly influential Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly.
Rt. Hon. Julius Pondi, Member, House of Representatives, Burutu Federal Constituency, Delta State).
Hon. Donald Kimikanboh Ojogo, Member, House of Representatives (APC, Ilaje/Ese-odo Federal Constituency, Ondo State).
The presence of Ondo State’s Hon. Ojogo, whose constituency is a crucial part of the Ijaw/Ilaje ethnic configuration that spans across state borders, alongside the Delta State APC chieftains, was particularly significant. They were reportedly among the key federal lawmakers who received Governor Diri’s Bayelsa kinsmen into the APC fold, lending immediate credibility and regional weight to the political realignment.
”This gathering reflects more than just a party switch; it’s a strategic realignment of the Ijaw nation and its neighbours towards the centre,” a high-ranking APC chieftain, who preferred to remain unnamed, was quoted as saying. “The sight of MacIver, an APC flagbearer, sharing a moment of unity with the Delta Speaker and Federal lawmakers like Pondi and Ojogo, It is an explosive signal that regional development and ethnic unity are now taking precedence over stale party rivalry.”
The political optics from the Samson Siasia Sports Complex strongly suggest a new, progressive bond forming across the Niger Delta states, driven by the shared vision of aligning the resource-rich region with the current administration at the national level.
This single moment of political truce between key players from Bayelsa (APC), Delta (APC), and Ondo (APC), at a high-stakes defection event, marks a critical junction and could dictate the trajectory of power-sharing and developmental politics in the South-South and South-West oil-producing areas for the next political cycle.
