PDP Questions Diri’s Support for Tinubu Over Missing Presidential Image on APC Billboards
By Jonah Fubara, YENAGOA – The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has questioned Governor Douye Diri’s commitment to President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, accusing him of deliberately distancing himself from the presidential campaign.
The party said the governor’s campaign billboards across Yenagoa, the state capital, promoting APC candidates for the National Assembly and State Assembly elections without featuring President Tinubu’s photograph, raised questions about his loyalty to the party’s national leadership.
In a press statement issued in Yenagoa, PDP Publicity Secretary, Ikaebimo Mark, mocked the governor over what he described as his reluctance to publicly associate with the president’s re-election campaign.
Mark argued that the omission of Tinubu’s photograph from the APC campaign billboards contradicted claims that Diri was fully committed to the president’s political ambition.
He said the governor’s body language suggested that he was not on the same page with the APC national leadership regarding the president’s re-election.
“When we said that the governor, Senator Douye Diri, is not supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we knew exactly what we were saying.
“Now Governor Douye Diri has erected APC campaign billboards across Bayelsa State without Tinubu’s picture. He is even afraid to associate himself with the photograph of the presidential candidate of his own party. How can this governor claim to be supporting President Tinubu?” Mark queried.
The PDP spokesman maintained that the campaign materials reflected an apparent disconnect between the Bayelsa governor and the APC’s national political direction.
The party’s comments have introduced another dimension to the emerging political debate over Governor Diri’s relationship with the APC’s national leadership and the extent of his support for President Tinubu’s re-election ambition.
