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By David Odama
Former President Goodluck Jonathan is reportedly facing mounting pressure to abandon his rumored 2027 presidential ambition and instead support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Acording to reliable sources, several influential figures from the Niger Delta, including former militant leader, Chief Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolobare are allegedly at the forefront of this push.
It was gathered that some of Jonathan’s close associates and kinsmen have urged him to set aside any plans of returning to power, insisting that backing Tinubu’s second-term bid would better serve the region’s political interests.
Tompolo was said to have visited Jonathan at his Otuoke residence in Bayelsa State on October 16, in the company of Chief Kestin Pondi, Managing Director of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, and Mr. Joshua Maciver, the APC’s Deputy Governorship candidate in the 2023 Bayelsa election, among others.
Sources familiar with the meeting revealed that it was primarily political, focused on persuading Jonathan to step aside from any 2027 ambition. Tompolo reportedly told the former president that the general sentiment in the Niger Delta does not favour his return to the presidency.
As the leader of the PBAT Door-2-Door Movement, a grassroots campaign group advocating Tinubu’s re-election, Tompolo was said to have informed Jonathan that most Niger Deltans prefer continuity under Tinubu.
He cautioned that Jonathan might not enjoy the expected “home support” if he decided to contest.
An insider disclosed, “Tompolo’s visit to His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, in Otuoke on October 16 was a warm reunion after over a decade. Despite speculations that the meeting was about peace and security in the region,
“it was purely political. Tompolo appealed to Jonathan to reconsider any plans for 2027, advising him not to be misled into thinking he could unseat President Tinubu”, sources stated.
He stressed that the mood across the Niger Delta and much of Nigeria presently supports Tinubu’s re-election”
Another source noted that Jonathan listened attentively and agreed to reflect on the advice before making his decision public.
However, when addressing journalists after the meeting, Jonathan maintained that Tompolo’s visit was aimed at reviewing the prevailing peace in the Niger Delta, without confirming or denying whether 2027 politics was among his political agenda for2027.
