“To every Bayelsan who carries a burden, a wound, a fear, or a silent tear, Christ’s birth is our anchor. His coming is our assurance that no darkness — no matter how deep — is beyond His reach.”
“Yes, our hearts are heavy because we lost our deputy governor, who would have been here to read one of the lessons. However, the truth is that each and every one of us will answer this call.
“I like to also thank the people for the mammoth crowd at the sports complex during our defection. I appreciate the leader of our party, President Bola Tinubu, and Vice President Kashim Shettima. I pledge our loyalty to continue to work for a better Nigeria, for the upliftment of the standard of living of our people.”
He dedicated the award to people of the state, whose support he noted was an encouragement to his administration to render greater service.
“After wide consultations and careful consideration, we have today formally joined the All Progressives Congress (APC). This was a strategic, collaborative decision… taken in the best interests of our people and for the accelerated development of the state.”
“If we want this country to move forward, the sub-national governments should not be controlled from the centre. If we want this country to develop, you cannot use the resources from one region to create more local government areas in another region in order to feed that region and then starve the area where these resources are coming from. That is not federalism.”
“This is just the start of many initiatives aimed at promoting economic growth and sustainable development.”
The Congress, however, commended the Bayelsa State Government under Governor Douye Diri for the ongoing Yenagoa Independent Power Plant project, which is expected to deliver uninterrupted electricity with the installation of 60-megawatt gas turbines from December 2025.
“You don’t have to wait for the Governor to come out. The moment it is Thursday, you have to remind yourself. Whether the Governor is there or not, whether the Commissioner or Assembly members are there or not, it’s for your own benefit, for your health.”
“Signing this important agreement between our two countries and two states is very historic for us from Bayelsa State, coming at a time our host, Angola, was marking its 50th independence anniversary.”
