The former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan has been urged to shelve his planned bid to contest for the presidency of the country in the 2027 general elections, instead he was advised back the incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his second term.
A frontline Niger Delta ex-militant commander, High Chief (Dr.) Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, who is the arrowhead of the group rooting for the continuity of Tinubu’s presidency beyond 2027, discussed with the former president when he led a vanguard of eminent citizens of the Niger Delta to persuade Jonathan not to run for the presidency of the country in 2027.
Tompolo and some of his kinsmen such as the Managing Director of his oil pipelines surveillance company, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), High Chief Kestin Pondi and the Deputy Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the 2023 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa state, Hon. Joshua Maciver, among other prominent citizens of the oil-rich belt visited former President Jonathan at his Otuoke community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Friday, October 16th 2025.
Contrary to widespread reports on the historical visit, latest findings revealed that the meeting was aimed at persuading the ex-president not to seek the mandate of Nigerians in the 2027 elections.
It was gathered that Tompolo told Jonathan that the psyche of his kinsmen in the Niger Delta was unfavourable to his rumoured ambition of returning to power.
Tompolo, who is the convener and founder of the “PBAT- Door-2-Door, a frontline grassroots political movement in the vanguard of the re-election of Tinubu, reportedly told his host, that his kinsmen are largely in favour of Tinubu’s second term bid.
According to impeccable sources closed to the meeting revealed that Tompolo told Jonathan that he might not secure the much desired “home support” if he insisted on running for the presidency on any of the political platforms in the forthcoming general elections, urging him to support Tinubu till 2031.
Tompolo urged Jonathan to borrow a leaf from his wife and ex- first lady, Patience and Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, who had joined the movement for the re-election of the incumbent Nigerian leader in 2027.
Although this, nexus of discussion was not made public by the duo of Jonathan and Tompolo, those privy to the main agenda of the meeting further disclosed that Tompolo encouraged Ex-President Jonathan to join a consensus front in the Niger Delta for the continuity of southern presidency with Tinubu as beneficiary till 2031.
One of the sources further disclosed that Tompolo said the recent resignation of Diri from the main opposition platform, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his anticipated defection into APC, had made it imperative for Jonathan to team up with his team to tenaciously work to ensure the re-election of Tinubu in 2027.
One of the sources said “Tompolo came to see His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan, in his village, Otuoke, on Friday, October 16th in what was a happy re-union since they have not met in over one decade. Contrary to the reports in the conventional and social media that they discussed issues bordering on peace and security in the Niger Delta, far from that, the meeting was political.
“Tompolo came and unequivocally appealed to him to shelve his rumoured presidential bid in 2027. Although Tompolo acknowledged that the ambition is coming into the public space as mere rumours but he told Mr. President that he should shelve the idea if it’s true.
“Tompolo advised our leader not to be persuaded and not giving in to those political calculations that, he could unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 elections. He stated categorically that the psyche of the citizens of the Niger Delta and indeed of the majority of Nigerians favoured the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
“He made President Jonathan to understand that he won’t get the much required home support for his aspiration . He specifically pointed out the recent public statement made by his wife, Patience, endorsing President Tinubu for re-election and the recent resignation of Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, from PDP and his planned defection into APC.
“Tompolo told his host that nobody can defeat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a free and fair electoral contest in view of his superlative performance in less than three years in office.
“Consequently, he enjoined President Jonathan to join the vanguard for the re-election of Tinubu in 2027, that a contrary action will surely not going to be in his interest and in the over all interest of his people of the Niger Delta”
