(DDM) – A new wave of political tension has emerged in Bayelsa State as Nollywood actor and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain, Kenneth Okonkwo, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately declare the office of Governor Douye Diri vacant following his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) reports that Okonkwo made the declaration after Diri reportedly announced his exit from the PDP during a State Executive Council meeting in Yenagoa, sparking widespread political reactions and constitutional debate.
According to Okonkwo, the governor’s withdrawal from the party that sponsored his election effectively invalidates his mandate, citing Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
He argued that the section explicitly requires every state governor to be a member of a political party and to have been sponsored by that party to remain eligible for office.
“The moment Governor Diri renounced his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, he ceased to meet the constitutional requirements of a sitting governor,” Okonkwo stated.
He urged INEC to conduct a fresh governorship election within 90 days to fill what he described as an “automatic vacancy” in Bayelsa’s top office.
The actor-turned-politician maintained that Nigeria’s democracy must not tolerate what he termed “selective constitutional obedience,” insisting that governors cannot defect from the parties that brought them to power without facing the legal consequences.
Okonkwo’s statement has quickly gone viral, drawing mixed reactions across social media, particularly among supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition PDP, both of whom have been locked in an intense battle for dominance in the South-South region.
While some political commentators backed Okonkwo’s constitutional interpretation, others dismissed his demand as political sensationalism, noting that the Supreme Court has previously ruled in similar cases that only legislators, not governors, can lose their seats through defection.
Analysts recall that in 2020, the apex court reaffirmed that governors hold personal mandates, not party-owned mandates, and therefore cannot be automatically removed by virtue of defection unless there is a judicial pronouncement to that effect.
Governor Diri’s recent resignation from the PDP came amid a wave of high-profile defections sweeping the South-South and South-East regions, as political actors realign ahead of the 2027 general elections.
His move follows similar exits by Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu and Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, both of whom have been accused of shifting loyalty toward the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Observers say the string of defections has unsettled the PDP’s national leadership, already struggling to contain internal rifts after the 2023 elections.
Kenneth Okonkwo’s intervention adds a dramatic twist to Bayelsa’s political scene and may reignite debates over constitutional reform, party supremacy, and the limits of executive loyalty in Nigeria’s multiparty democracy.
As of press time, neither INEC nor the Bayelsa State Government had issued an official response to Okonkwo’s demand.
However, political watchers believe the actor’s statement has further intensified discussions around governance, morality, and political accountability in Nigeria’s volatile South-South region.