Politics
PDP’ II Bring Desired Change In 2023 – Diri
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would bring about the desired change Nigerians are yearning for in 2023.
Governor Diri also advocated the strengthening of the party from national to the state level in order to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the centre in the next general election.
He stated this during a meeting with the executive of the PDP South-South zone in Government House, Yenagoa.
In a press release by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, the governor noted that PDP was the only reliable alternative party that could provide purposeful leadership at this point in time.
Senator Diri, who decried the worsening insecurity in the country, pointed out that Nigeria was sliding downwards on a daily basis and it behoves on the party to rescue the nation.
“Nigeria is ripe enough for change. We have experienced the change that the APC brought and now it is time to change the change. Today, there is insecurity and killings in almost every part of the country and Nigeria is sliding downwards on a daily basis”, he said.
“PDP is the only veritable and reliable alternative party for now. So, you and I have been given the mandate to rescue this nation. We have the best times to bounce back to the national scene.Our appeal is that the APC should allow the people to determine who becomes their president in 2023. We don’t want Nigeria to go down”, he added.
Senator Diri also cautioned that the party and country’s interest should be placed above personal considerations in the choice of a presidential candidate, noting that political power should be utilised to positively impact lives as it was ephemeral.
On the proposed use of electronic registration for party members, he urged the zonal leadership to prevail on the national leadership to kickstart the process.
While commending the zonal leadership for its role in getting Edo State back into the PDP fold, Diri said South-South would remain a stronghold of the party.
While highlighting some of the key projects being undertaken by his administration, particularly in the area of road infrastructure in the last one year, he assured that they would be ready for commissioning next February.
The projects include, construction of the Yenagoa-Oporoma and Sagbama-Ekeremor senatorial roads, construction of a media complex to accommodate the state-owned radio, television and newspaper outfits, establishment of technical colleges, renovation of schools among others.
In his remarks, the PDP National Vice Chairman, South-South, Chief Dan Orbih, commended the Diri administration for enhancing the state’s security architecture with the provision of operational vehicles.
Chief Orbih, who expressed concern over the security situation in the country, urged the governor to collaborate with his colleagues in the zone to put in place a security network to protect lives and property.
He also applauded the development strides of the governor in the area of infrastructure development, noting that the achievements of the PDP governors would boost the party’s campaign strategies.
Orbih, however, condemned in strong terms the recent nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari of a known APC member as commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission, describing the development as a threat to the country’s democracy.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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