Fresh pressure is mounting on former President, Goodluck Jonathan, to abandon his speculated plan to contest the presidency in 2027, as Niger Delta leaders intensify efforts to rally him behind President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.

Findings by Punch revealed that ex-militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, is spearheading the regional campaign urging Jonathan to drop his alleged ambition and support Tinubu.

Recall that Tompolo, accompanied by top associates including the Managing Director of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, High Chief Kestin Pondi, and the APC deputy governorship candidate in the 2023 Bayelsa election, Joshua Maciver, visited Jonathan at his Otuoke home in Bayelsa’s Ogbia Local Government Area on October 16.

According to sources, the meeting lasted several hours and marked Tompolo’s first public political appearance in almost a decade.

While earlier reports suggested the discussions centred on peace and security in the Niger Delta, insiders disclosed that the meeting was primarily political.

A source close to Jonathan confirmed to Punch that the ex-president and Tompolo’s team indeed met, with conversations focused on persuading Jonathan to back Tinubu in 2027.

The source said, “It is true, the meeting held. Niger Delta stakeholders feel Tinubu has done a lot for the region—look at the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the university he approved for Ogoni land, and several other projects. So everyone feels we should back President Tinubu’s second-term bid. That was what Tompolo came to discuss with the former President. He urged him not to run but to support President Tinubu.”

Pressed on whether Jonathan was nursing a presidential ambition, the associate added, “Yes, he was considering it.”

A source within Tompolo’s camp corroborated this, describing the visit as historic.

“It was the first time in a decade that Tompolo would visit anyone. That alone shows the importance of the meeting,” the source said.

Tompolo, who has been a staunch supporter of President Tinubu, currently enjoys the renewal of the multibillion-naira pipeline surveillance contract first awarded to him during the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Tompolo also leads a grassroots political structure known as the ‘PBAT Door-to-Door Movement’, mobilising support for Tinubu’s re-election across the Niger Delta.

Further details from sources familiar with the meeting suggest that Tompolo told Jonathan that the psyche of Niger Deltans was not in favour of his rumoured ambition to return to power.

One source said, “Tompolo was very frank with him. He told the former President that his people were no longer disposed to supporting him for another presidential contest and that most Niger Deltans prefer Tinubu to continue till 2031.”

The source added that Tompolo advised Jonathan to learn from his wife, Patience Jonathan, and the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, who have both aligned themselves with the movement for Tinubu’s re-election.

The source further stated, “Tompolo pointed out that Mrs Jonathan had already publicly endorsed President Tinubu for re-election and that Governor Diri’s resignation from the PDP and his planned defection to the APC were indicators that the region was moving in that direction.”

Another participant at the meeting said Tompolo urged Jonathan not to be swayed by politicians urging him to challenge Tinubu, warning that he would not get the needed “home support.”

The source stated, “He told him point-blank that no one can defeat President Tinubu in a free and fair contest considering his performance so far.

“Tompolo stressed that most Nigerians, especially in the South, want continuity to allow Tinubu to complete his programmes.”

The ex-militant leader reportedly told Jonathan that he didn’t need to defect to the APC to support Tinubu, but could remain a statesman and use his influence to deliver the region to the President in 2027.

According to one of the sources, Jonathan listened attentively and promised to consider Tompolo’s advice carefully.

The source said, “President Jonathan appreciated Tompolo for his visit and acknowledged the wisdom in his submissions. He promised to review the counsel and make his decision known in due course.”

While Tompolo declined to speak to journalists after the closed-door meeting, Jonathan told reporters that the visit focused on maintaining peace and stability in the Niger Delta.

Jonathan said, “Since I left office, we have not seen each other. Tompolo is one young man who has played key roles in the unity of our people. We discussed issues people have been complaining about to ensure the Niger Delta remains peaceful. He has contributed significantly to peace and the protection of oil installations.”

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Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson has called for a total reform of Nigeria’s electoral framework to strengthen transparency and accountability in the conduct of elections.

Speaking during an appearance on Arise Television, Dickson stated that it is time to make the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accountable.

Dickson, a member of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, insisted that it is impossible for candidates to prove what only the Commission control.

He insisted that elections should be a period of celebrating what is best about the nation and not a time to kill it maim.

The ex-governor stated that one of the key proposals under discussion in the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act is to ensure that the burden of proof in election disputes rests with the INEC rather than with candidates or political parties.

“Elections should be moments where we rediscover ourselves as a nation and celebrate what is best about us, not moments where people kill, maim, or write non-existent figures to win without the people’s mandate.

“The burden of proof in electoral matters must shift to INEC. That is where it rightly and properly belongs. We should not subject it to the normal evidential rule that says, he who alleges must prove,” he said.

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Senator Adams Oshiomole has urged his colleagues and other politicians to stop rigging Election and arming thugs. The Former Edo state governor cum lawmaker, made the appeal while speaking during the debate on Electoral Reforms in the Senate in Wednesday, October 22.

In his words

‘’As elected persons, we as Senators shall not, directly or indirectly, secretly or openly, aid and abet unemployed or semi-employed people and arm them to disrupt elections, If we reform our character, this problem is 90% solved.

In Edo state, I launched one man, one vote, At the end of the day and as of today, it is now impossible to do election without counting dead bodies. It wasn’t so before because we convinced everybody that there is no merit in taking election as if it is a state of war.

The beauty of democracy is not the fact that you find yourself occupying an important elective office. It is the feeling in your heart that people actually in their free will, found you worthy to be their voice and to entrust our collective patrimony in your hands to manage to deliver the greatest good to the greatest number. That for me is the beauty.

If you achieve it through rigging or other manipulation, deep in your heart you know you are not a happy person. After every election, violent crime increases because the politicians who have procured weapons for children who are hungry and pay them a little fee, once the election is over, they are not able to retrieve the weapons and the weapons are then deployed by these people for violence. You can see a strong correlation between the level of criminality, robbery etcetera immediately after the election because these people have been abandoned since results have been given”’

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