From Musa Muhammad Kutama, Calabar
Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has urged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) across the state to intensify grassroots mobilisation to ensure that no opposition political party secures 25 per cent of the votes in the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The governor gave the charge on Saturday at the grand finale of the Bayelsa East Renewed Hope Movement sensitisation campaign.
In a statement issued to media representatives by Doubara Atasi, Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Diri stressed the need for APC members to consolidate their political gains and reach out to undecided voters ahead of the elections.
Represented by his deputy, Dr Peter Akpe, the governor said the party could not afford to become complacent despite its political standing in the state, insisting that members must intensify mobilisation efforts to secure an overwhelming victory.
The governor also commended political leaders and stakeholders in Bayelsa East for embracing reconciliation and sustaining peace, describing unity as essential to the political and developmental progress of the state.
His words: “On behalf of our leader and Governor, His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, I want to thank you for your show of love and support. We are happy with what you are doing for our party. We appreciate your sacrifices. Look at how you have even defied the rain.
“So, I appreciate every one of you—the leadership and all those who have worked with the government of Bayelsa to ensure that peace and unity are maintained and improved upon in Bayelsa East going forward.
“But saying thank you does not mean you should go to sleep. It is time to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. One or two people are out there waiting for us to harvest. Bring them inside. Do not leave them outside because we want to squeeze the opposition to zero point.
“Our winning is sure, but if we score 75 per cent, we have not won because the other people should not get 25 per cent. I emphasise that no opposition party or candidate should get 25 per cent of the votes in Bayelsa.”
In his remarks, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Samuel Ogbuku, said former President Goodluck Jonathan had also endorsed President Bola Tinubu and all APC candidates in the forthcoming elections.
According to Ogbuku, all APC candidates from Bayelsa East had visited Jonathan to seek his permission and blessings before commencing their sensitisation campaign.
He said: “As a people who respect leadership, we first took all our candidates to see the former president of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who is also from this electoral district, to seek his permission and his blessings.
“In that meeting, the former president actually blessed this movement, blessed our candidates and endorsed all of them, from president to the least candidate, and gave us a mandate to go out to win the election for the senatorial district.”
The NDDC managing director described the unity among political leaders in Bayelsa East as a significant development, recalling that collective political action had contributed to the emergence of the district’s first military administrator and first civilian governor.
“It is our unity that gave us a military administrator in the old Rivers State (Alfred Diete-Spiff). It was our unity that gave us the first Rivers civilian governor (Melford Okilo), and this unity, we know, will bring about better things and prosperity to Bayelsa East.”
He urged party members and supporters to sustain the momentum, insisting that the district would translate its political commitment into votes at the polls. He also challenged other senatorial districts in the state to demonstrate similar political unity.
Also speaking, the former Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd.), urged political stakeholders to prioritise their collective interests over personal disagreements, stressing that political differences should not prevent cooperation where common interests exist.
“Every politics is local. Every politics is for your interest. The fact that you are fighting with somebody does not mean that I will also fight with that person if that person is working for my interest,” Jonah said.
He also urged voters in the district to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, describing him as the only presidential candidate who had demonstrated a commitment to the devolution of power, a long-standing demand of the Niger Delta region.
Others who delivered goodwill messages at the event included the APC State Chairman, Hon. Warman Ogoriba; Campaign Director-General, Chief Robert Ayalla Enogha; APC Bayelsa East Senatorial candidate, Chief Israel Sunny-Goli; his House of Representatives counterpart for Nembe/Brass Federal Constituency, Dr Jonathan Obuebite; and the state Commissioner for Transport, Hon. Preye Broderick.
