Tompolo group opens Benue chapter, urges voters to back Tinubu in 2027
- The PBAT Door-to-Door Movement launched its Benue chapter in Makurdi and handed 25 vehicles to coordinators.
- Tompolo, represented by Kestin Pondi, cited the new Army 5 Division in Makurdi as proof of Tinubu's security focus.
- Governor Hyacinth Alia and former governor Gabriel Suswam also asked Benue residents to support the president's re-election.
A campaign group backing President Bola Tinubu's re-election has opened its Benue State chapter, telling residents in Makurdi that the president's record on security and reform deserves a second term in 2027.
The PBAT Door-to-Door Movement held the inauguration on Thursday and gave out 25 vehicles to its state coordinators, according to accounts from Leadership and The Sun.
High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, widely known as Tompolo, leads the movement. He did not attend in person; the managing director of Tantita Security Services, Kestin Pondi, spoke for him.
Pondi pointed to the Nigerian Army's 5 Division, headquartered in Makurdi, as evidence that the administration is serious about protecting lives in Benue, a state long troubled by violence and displacement.
What the speakers said
According to the reports, Tompolo's stand-in argued that Tinubu has taken on reforms earlier leaders avoided, including the removal of the petrol subsidy, the push for state policing and local government autonomy, electricity changes and the student loan scheme run by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
He compared Nigeria with fast-growing Asian economies, saying those countries spent years seeing difficult reforms through, and urged Nigerians to judge the president by that standard rather than by immediate comfort.
Governor Hyacinth Alia said federal support had helped his government build roads, factories, free basic education, mechanised farming and better health facilities. He said the extra military deployment had allowed some displaced residents to return home and go back to their farms.
"Each time you thank me for working for Benue people, that is the man behind it," Alia said of Tinubu.
Former governor and Senator Gabriel Suswam also backed the re-election bid but did not hide the hardship Nigerians face. He said the pain of today's reforms could pay off for younger generations, and that past administrations had failed to take such steps.
The movement's national coordinator, Sunday Asuku, challenged politicians who now criticise the subsidy removal to explain what they did while in office.
What happens next
The 2027 general election is still more than a year away, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not opened the formal campaign period. For now, these are early mobilisation efforts.
For Benue residents, the issues the speakers raised are practical: whether security improves enough for farmers to return to their land, and whether the cost-of-living pressures tied to the reforms ease before voting day.
