Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has said he will not compel his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Diri spoke on Wednesday during the Bayelsa State Executive Council meeting at the Government House in Yenagoa, the state capital.
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PREMIUM TIMES reported that Governor Diri resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in October this year.
The governor subsequently joined the APC from the PDP on 3 November. But his deputy refused to join him in the new party.
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There were speculations that members of the Bayelsa House of Assembly had perfected plans to impeach Mr Ewhrudjakpo over his refusal to move to the APC.
The deputy governor, on 22 October, consequently sued the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in court over the alleged impeachment plot.
‘Engagement rather than confrontation’
During Wednesday’s state executive meeting, also attended by Mr Ewhrudjakpo, Mr Diri said he would continue to discuss with his deputy over the need to switch to the APC.
As a matter of principle, the governor said he believed in engagement rather than confrontation.
“Let me address an issue that has been a subject of speculation in the media. I do not intend to force people to join the APC but rather to appeal to them to see reason with me. I might have the power today, but not tomorrow,” he said.
Mr Diri admitted it was difficult for them to be in different political parties, but expressed optimism that ongoing engagements with his deputy would yield “positive results.”
The governor stated that he had discussed the suit with Mr Ewhrudjakpo, which he had filed at a Federal High Court in Abuja to halt the alleged impeachment plot, and that the deputy governor had agreed to discontinue it.
He urged the people of the state to love one another and view politics as a means to bring about development, rather than to pull others down.
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“We must not heat the polity. We are done with violence in Bayelsa State. We are brothers, and we are one. Politics should be for the development of the state and not to fight one another,” he said.
Governor Diri also refuted speculations that some armed persons were planning to invade the state, describing it as “misinformation.”
He assured that security agencies have been notified to check for any threat in any part of the state.
