The grassroots campaign for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 has received a boost in Kogi State with the donation of 25 vehicles by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.
Tompolo, the movement’s grand patron, announced the donation through the Managing Director of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, Kestin Pondi, at the inauguration of the movement’s Kogi State structure in Lokoja on Monday.
He called on Nigerians to re-elect Tinubu, citing the removal of the petrol subsidy, direct allocation of funds to local governments and the decision to allow states to regulate electricity within their jurisdictions.
According to Tompolo, the reforms have increased the resources available to state governments for the payment of salaries and pensions and the execution of development projects.
“If somebody has done so much for you, what do you do for the person? You give him more,” Pondi said.
He urged members of the movement to take the campaign to homes, workplaces, churches, markets and communities, saying Nigerians should give Tinubu another four years to consolidate his policies.
Tompolo acknowledged that the reforms had created challenges but argued that the country would eventually benefit from them if citizens remained patient.
Speaking at the event, Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo commended the movement for providing vehicles for grassroots mobilisation, urging members to use them to reach communities across the state.
He, however, said electoral success would depend on more than the availability of vehicles, stressing the need for effective organisation and direct engagement with voters.
“Vehicles do not win elections, but people win elections, conventions win elections and organisations win elections,” the governor said.
Ododo urged the movement’s coordinators to explain the administration’s policies and projects to residents, listen to their concerns and respond to questions with facts rather than insults.
He said Tinubu inherited serious economic challenges and had introduced reforms to address them, adding that continuity was necessary to consolidate ongoing development efforts.
The governor also listed projects in Kogi State which he said had received presidential support, including the proposed Economic City and Free Trade Zone, the Kogi International Airport project and renewed attention to the Abuja-Lokoja-Benin Expressway.
He also cited the development of universities and primary healthcare centres, road construction, support for farmers and empowerment initiatives targeting youths and women.
Ododo said improvements in infrastructure, security and the business environment were necessary to attract investment, create jobs and improve living standards.
He thanked Tinubu for supporting security operations against criminality and backing efforts to establish state police. He said improved security would enable farmers to return to their farms and businesses to operate without fear.
The governor pledged to lead the mobilisation effort in Kogi State ahead of the 2027 presidential election, urging members to engage communities peacefully and persuade voters through their messages and conduct.
Earlier, the National Coordinator of the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement, Sunday Asuku, called on residents, youths, students and farmers to support Tinubu’s re-election.
Asuku described the administration’s reforms as necessary for national development and urged Nigerians to support the continuation of its policies.
He also cited the administration’s engagement with organised labour and efforts to prevent strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities as reasons to support Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Asuku urged members to extend the campaign beyond political gatherings by engaging voters from door to door and settlement to settlement.
