The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Samuel Ogbuku, has said the Ijaw people have resolved to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for a second term in office in the 2027 presidential election.
Ogbuku spoke at the weekend in Yenagoa during an expanded stakeholders’ meeting of the P-BAT Door-to-Door Movement, a grassroots mobilisation platform supporting Tinubu’s re-election.
He said although no Ijaw candidate was currently contesting the presidency, the Ijaw people had decided to support Tinubu, noting that ethnic considerations remained an important factor in Nigerian politics.
Ogbuku said the establishment of the P-BAT Door-to-Door Movement was part of efforts by its founder and Grand Patron, Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, to demonstrate the Ijaw people’s support for the President.
He expressed optimism that a second Tinubu administration would do more to address the challenges confronting the Ijaw people and the Niger Delta.
The NDDC boss also commended Tompolo for establishing the movement, describing it as a platform that had brought together Ijaw people and members of other ethnic nationalities in support of Tinubu.
Also speaking, Governor Douye Diri, through his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Chief Collins Cocodia, described P-BAT as one of the most organised support groups mobilising support for Tinubu at the grassroots.
Cocodia said Bayelsa remained aligned with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Tinubu, adding that the state government had registered more than 200 support groups.
He described P-BAT as the largest and most coordinated among the groups and urged its members to intensify their door-to-door mobilisation across communities, wards and polling units.
According to him, the grassroots mobilisation should be pursued with the consistency associated with religious evangelism, with members taking their message directly to households.
Cocodia also attributed increased funding for infrastructure and other development projects in Bayelsa to the Federal Government, saying ongoing projects in the state reflected the impact of improved funding.
He added that local governments were also receiving increased allocations under the present administration.
The governor’s aide commended the South-South Coordinator of P-BAT, Pastor Reuben Wilson, and his team for their mobilisation efforts across the region.
He also acknowledged Tompolo’s contribution to peace and security in the Niger Delta.
Earlier, the National Coordinator of P-BAT Door-to-Door Movement, Comrade Sunday Asuku, commended Tompolo for what he described as visionary leadership in establishing the grassroots mobilisation organisation.
Asuku cited the removal of fuel subsidy, economic reforms and investments in infrastructure and human capital as some of the major initiatives of the Tinubu administration.
He said the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda had recorded achievements over the past three years and called on stakeholders to support Tinubu’s second-term bid.
The South-South Zonal Coordinator of the movement, Pastor Reuben Wilson, said Bayelsa had benefited from projects executed through the NDDC, which he attributed to support from the Federal Government.
Wilson cited the provision of electricity to some fishing settlements and the commissioning of projects in Bayelsa by President Tinubu as reasons for supporting the administration.
He said P-BAT was established to take information about the Federal Government’s programmes and projects directly to communities, wards and polling units.
Wilson urged members to strengthen the movement’s structures at polling-unit, ward and local government levels.
In his welcome address, the Bayelsa State Coordinator of P-BAT, Dr Charles Daniel, urged stakeholders to present practical ideas and strategies that would strengthen the movement’s grassroots mobilisation.
A stakeholder, Comrade Preye Agama, also called on APC supporters in Bayelsa to work towards the election of Tinubu and other APC candidates in the 2027 elections.
The P-BAT Door-to-Door Movement has in recent weeks intensified its grassroots activities across the South-South, holding meetings and mobilisation exercises involving state, senatorial, local government and ward coordinators.