Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, has said Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, will bring no value to the ruling party if he defects as expected. Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Friday, Nabena insisted that Governor Diri is only joining the APC to weaken its current structure in Bayelsa State.

Nabena alleged that the governor is already trying to disrupt the party’s leadership in Bayelsa ahead of his rumoured defection on Monday. According to him, Diri’s move is not about strengthening the party but about taking control for his personal political goals.

The APC chieftain further claimed that allies of the governor have been spreading false rumours about the arrest of the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku. He described the claims as a deliberate plot to tarnish Ogbuku’s image and create confusion within the party.

Nabena argued that unlike recent defections in Delta and Enugu, where top opposition figures moved with their supporters, Governor Diri would be joining the APC “empty-handed” since most key PDP members in Bayelsa are not following him. He warned that the APC will not allow anyone to dismantle its structure under the guise of defecting.

While acknowledging Diri’s democratic right to choose any political party, Nabena urged Nigerians to ignore the alleged smear campaign targeting Ogbuku. He insisted that the existing APC leadership in Bayelsa must be protected from political manipulation disguised as a defection.