Engr. Udengs Eradiri, candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Bayelsa governorship election, has called on Governor Douye Diri, his predecessor, Chief Seriake Dickson, to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to him, “their defection will guarantee the Ijaw Nation on the table of political decision making.”
This is as he said the time is ripe for a political realignment by those from the Ijaw ethnic stock.
Udengs who himself defected to the APC earlier this year stated this in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
He opined that the current political equation in Nigeria will alienate the ijaws if they don’t restrategise immediately.
According to the politician, it is a waste of time for Ijaw politicians to oppose the Tinubu-led government as he claimed that will only alienate Ijaws politically.
He equally argued that contemporary Ijaws have no say in the current Federal Government, thus the defection of Diri and Dickson to the ruling APC will give Ijaws a voice at the center.
“Our fathers had always aligned with the center and Ijaws no matter how bad, had always had some say in government, as of today we have no voice in the APC led federal government .
“Therefore a Dickson being a former governor and now senator and Douye Diri a former senator and current governor joining the APC will give the Ijaws a voice at the national government.
“They however need to display maturity and grow above personal sentiments and ambition so the overall interest of the Ijaws in the political space is not beclouded by primordial and personal interest.
“Ijaws cannot be onlookers, our resources sustain Nigeria so we must be strategic and align so as to benefit the Ijaw in the politics of nigeria,” the statement partly read.
