The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman in Bayelsa State, Alabh George Turnah, has challenged the claim by the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Warman Weri Ogoriba, that the APC has sufficient structures and grassroots support to deliver President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election without the support of the emerging Rainbow Coalition.
Ogoriba had said the Bayelsa APC had the numbers, organisation and grassroots structures across the state’s eight local government areas and political wards to secure victory for Tinubu and other APC candidates.
Reacting in a statement issued at the weekend through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Kelvin Loveday-Egbo, Turnah said the APC’s position should be measured against Bayelsa’s previous presidential voting figures and the current political realignments in the state.
He said the 2023 presidential election results cited by him showed that the PDP polled 65,145 votes in Bayelsa, while the Labour Party (LP) recorded 45,645 votes and the APC 40,417 votes.
Turnah argued that the figures demonstrated the importance of cross-party support in any attempt to build a broad political coalition ahead of 2027.
“Those numbers are not propaganda. They are figures from the last presidential election. Therefore, when the APC says it has everything required to determine the presidential outcome in Bayelsa State, we should ask a simple question: what does the voting record actually tell us?” he said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) published its official 2023 General Election report, which includes the results and electoral data from the exercise.
Turnah also argued that the political environment had changed since 2023, citing the emergence of Peter Obi as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), a party founded by former Bayelsa State Governor Henry Seriake Dickson.
He said the development should be taken into consideration in assessing the political landscape ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“The reality is that the Bayelsa APC, under Governor Douye Diri’s leadership, cannot afford to dismiss the significance of the Rainbow Coalition or the political value of the PDP without confronting the facts on ground,” Turnah said.
He also referred to the movement of Governor Douye Diri from the PDP to the APC and the departure of former Governor Timipre Sylva from the APC, arguing that the developments had altered political alignments in the state.
Turnah maintained that the PDP and the Rainbow Coalition could contribute to efforts aimed at mobilising presidential support for Tinubu in Bayelsa.
The Rainbow Coalition is associated with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and is described as a multi-party political arrangement seeking to support Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
The PDP chairman said the issue was not whether the APC should abandon its own structures, but whether political actors supporting Tinubu should be allowed to mobilise additional support across party lines.
“If the APC in Bayelsa believes its structures are strong enough, that is a matter for the electorate to determine. But it is not reasonable to dismiss a platform whose stated objective is to mobilise additional presidential support and then simultaneously claim that every vote required for the President is already guaranteed,” he said.
Turnah said the PDP would continue to build its structures and engage its members while participating in elections in accordance with the decisions of the party.
He urged political parties and stakeholders to focus the 2027 debate on issues affecting Bayelsans, including infrastructure, employment, economic opportunities, security, education, healthcare and poverty reduction.
“The PDP will continue to put the interests of Bayelsans at the centre of its political engagement. At the end of the day, it is the people who will decide the outcome of the elections,” he said.
