Former President Goodluck Jonathan is reportedly under intense pressure to drop his speculated 2027 presidential ambition and support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
According to reliable sources, the pressure is being spearheaded by influential Niger Delta figures, including ex-militant leader Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.
Some of Jonathan’s kinsmen in the Niger Delta are said to have urged him to shelve any plans to return to power and instead back Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Tompolo, sources said, recently visited Jonathan at his country home in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, to personally appeal to him on the matter. The visit reportedly took place on October 16, with Tompolo accompanied by the Managing Director of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), Chief Kestin Pondi, and the APC Deputy Governorship candidate in the 2023 Bayelsa election, Mr. Joshua Maciver, among others.
According to insider accounts, the meeting was primarily political and centred on persuading Jonathan to forgo the 2027 race. Tompolo was said to have told the former president that the prevailing sentiment among Niger Deltans was not favourable to his rumored ambition.
Tompolo, who also leads the PBAT Door-2-Door Movement, a grassroots campaign group advocating Tinubu’s re-election, reportedly informed Jonathan that the Niger Delta largely supports Tinubu’s continuation in office. He warned that Jonathan might not receive the expected “home support” if he decided to run.
A source familiar with the discussion said: “Tompolo came to see His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, in Otuoke, on Friday, October 16, in what was a happy reunion after over a decade. Contrary to reports that the visit was about peace and security in the Niger Delta, it was purely political.
Tompolo appealed to the former president to shelve his rumoured presidential bid in 2027.
He advised him not to be swayed by suggestions that he could unseat President Tinubu, noting that public sentiment across the Niger Delta and much of Nigeria currently favours Tinubu’s re-election.”
Another insider revealed that Jonathan acknowledged the wisdom in Tompolo’s counsel and promised to reflect on it before making his position public.
Speaking briefly to journalists after the closed-door meeting, Jonathan said Tompolo’s visit was to “review the prevailing peace in the Niger Delta,” without confirming or denying discussions about his 2027 political plans.
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