House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and the promoter of PBAT Door-to-Door Movement Chief Government Ekpemupolo(aka Tompolo) have met to synergise on strategies for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in January.
A meeting by the duo came on the heels of the inauguration of the national secretariat of the support group in Abuja. The meeting focused on grassroots mobilisation and the consolidation of support for President Tinubu across the Southsouth and Southeast.
Their meeting touched on enhancing a joint operational framework for voter sensitisation youth engagements and ward-level coordination in the states under the South II Directorate.
Yesterday the movement distributed brand new buses to 14 of its coordinators to strengthen grassroots mobilisation and support for President Tinubu.
Deputy Speaker Kalu who had the meeting with Tompolo described the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement as a critical vehicle for the 2027 project noting that the January 16 presidential election would be won at the polling unit and household level.
The Deputy Speaker said that President Tinubu has taken bold reform-driven decisions that are stabilising the economy and securing the nation.
He added the campaign trail would ensure that the Renewed Hope message reached every doorstep emphasising that an alliance with Tompolo as Convener of the movement is strategic.
During the inauguration of the national secretariat the Deputy Speaker said that President Tinubu’s commitment to a stronger more productive and inclusive Nigeria was evident in initiatives such as the student loan programme through NELFUND which provides financial support for eligible young Nigerians to pursue higher education and the establishment of regional development commissions
He also expressed gratitude to the President for assenting to the Southeast Development Commission Act which according to him is an important step towards addressing reconstruction infrastructure and development priorities in the Southeast.
‘As a representative of Bende Federal Constituency I particularly appreciate President Tinubu’s assent to the Southeast Development Commission Act an important step towards addressing reconstruction infrastructure and development priorities in our region’ Kalu said.
Commending Tompolo for the initiative commitment and resources in establishing the national secretariat Kalu charged members of the movement to strengthen its grassroots structure mobilise support across the 774 Local Government Areas of the country and 8809 wards for Tinubu’s re-election.
He also urged the movement’s members to embody the highest standards of democratic participation by listening to citizens’ concerns.
‘Nigeria benefits when citizens can exchange ideas peacefully and participate in public life with confidence and dignity’ Kalu said.
14 Door-to-Door Movement state coordinators get buses
During the handover of the 14 buses to the state coordinators the National Coordinator Sunday Asuku said they (vehicles) would enable the coordinators to reach local governments wards and households to mobilise voters for Tinubu.
Asuku explained that vehicles previously distributed were meant for local government coordinators.
He said: ‘Like I just mentioned we have visited 14 states so far. The vehicles we gave them in those states are mainly meant for the local government coordinators to enable them to coordinate the affairs of their respective local governments.
‘But this is going directly to the office of the state coordinators. This is going to assist them to manage the affairs of the entire state.’
He charged the beneficiaries to intensify grassroots engagements and establish an effective feedback mechanism through which information from the field would be communicated to the movement’s national secretariat.
‘We are expecting them to give us feedback go from local government to local government ward to ward unit to unit and from door to door. All reports and feedback will be sent back to the national secretariat’ Asuku said.
The National Coordinator expressed confidence in the state coordinators describing them as trusted members of the group who had worked with its leadership for a considerable period.
Asuku said the movement had established mechanisms to monitor its activities and ensure that the resources provided to the coordinators were properly managed.
He said: ‘They know how best to take care of what has been kept in their custody. We have everything about them. They are not aliens to us. They are not strangers to us. We’ve been working as a team. So I think there’s no cause for alarm’.
Asuku attributed the provision of the vehicles to the movement’s founder and grand patron Tompolo whom he commended for supporting the group’s mobilisation efforts.
He said Tompolo believes that Tinubu deserves another term to consolidate the achievements of his administration adding that the vehicles would ease the work of the coordinators and expand the movement’s reach across the country.
‘Our Founder and Grand Patron High Chief Dr Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo has made us understand that the President is doing well.
‘He has done well in his first term. He should be given more time to consolidate what he has started in the last three and a half years’ Asuku said.
He described Tompolo as a leader committed to democracy and the welfare of Nigerians expressing appreciation for his continued support for the movement.
The National Coordinator also appealed to Nigerians particularly youths and women to support Tinubu’s re-election bid arguing that continuity would enable the administration to consolidate its development agenda.
He maintained that the President had made contributions to infrastructure human capital development and other sectors urging voters to consider the country’s future rather than ethnic and religious affiliations when making political choices.
He said: ‘It is not the time to play tribal politics; it’s not the time to go after religious sentiments; it’s the time to see the future of Nigeria’.
Asuku expressed optimism that Nigeria could strengthen its position in Africa through improvements in technology the economy and security urging citizens to support the President’s agenda.
He said: ‘We are charging Nigerians especially the youth and women men everybody in the country to see reasons why they should support and vote for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.’
Lagos State Coordinator of the movement Amosu Oluwatomi commended their convener for supporting Tinubu’s re-election bid describing the gesture as evidence that the President’s support extended beyond his home region.
‘It is so gratifying that a non-Lagosian a non-South Westerner is deeming it fit to support our President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at this time. It shows that the level of acceptance of the President cuts across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria’ Oluwatomi said.
He assured that the coordinators would engage residents across local governments wards streets and Community Development Associations while also taking their campaign directly to households.
‘We want to assure you that what happened in Lagos State in 2023 will not happen this time around. You can see that we are young vibrant and experienced. So we are going to every nook and cranny of Lagos State to ensure that we galvanise the needed support and the needed voters across the local government and ward levels’ he said.
Oluwatomi added that the movement would extend its engagement to communities and individual households to persuade residents to support the President at the polls.
Similarly the Kwara State Coordinator Omuiyadun Hammed Dimeji said the vehicles would enable the movement to educate residents on government policies and the impact of the Tinubu administration’s reform agenda.
He argued that the initiative was not intended to spread political propaganda but to encourage voters to assess the administration based on its policies and their effects on citizens.
‘These vehicles are not given to us to spread political propaganda but to go around to preach the gospel of policy to say no to strategies by politicians to upturn the thinking faculty of the people by majoring the minor at the expense of the major’ Dimeji said.
He maintained that governance should be judged by policies and their impact on the people adding that the movement had been taking its message to communities across Kwara State.