The Bayelsa State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has endorsed President Bola TInubu as its Presidential candidate for 2027.

Rising from an elaborate stakeholders meeting in Yenagoa on Tuesday, Dr. Dennis Otiotio, the State Chairman, disclosed that the unanimous decision came because it was all agreed that President Bola TInubu has done a lot for the people of the state.

He said that the president has given so many appointments to the people of the state, maintaining that they were grateful to Mr President for the Coastal road that has connected Bayelsa State to other parts of the country.

Stating that other infrastructural projects are ongoing, Otiotio disclosed that ” we are grateful to Mr President for appointing our Sons and Daughters into principal positions like Samuel Ogbuku, Heineken Lokpobiri, Dudi Walson Jack, Prince Ebitimi Angbare, among many others, including my humble self.

He thanked the national leadership of the party for coming to Bayelsa State, adding that “it shows the importance the national leadership attaches to the APC in Bayelsa State.

The chairman also thanked all the stakeholders of the party, whom he said have abandoned everything to support Mr President and other National Assembly members, adding ” that shows that we are committed. We are working together to ensure victory for the party.

He particularly thanks Samuel Ogbuku, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and Timipre Sylva, former Minister for Petroleum Resources, for always supporting the party in the state.

Also speaking, Samuel Ogbuku, the managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, in his remarks, thanked all who made themselves available for the reconciliatory meeting, adding that people were assuming that the party was in disarray.

He said: “Today is a very great day, and I believe that the national working committee of APC has seen that the party is not in disarray. And we are ready for 2027.

“The reconciliation committee has done a very good job, and I’m aware that the state working committee allowed the committee to do a very good job. They finish their work and call for a stakeholders meeting to ensure that everybody attends the meeting.

“I want to thank the chairman who has stood, irrespective of the various challenges he has had. Today, I can see APC members who are very hungry for victory.

“We have done it before, and I know that we can always do it again because it is something that we are used to doing; winning.

“I want to assure you that APC in Bayelsa State has resolved to ensure that we all bury our differences to ensure that come 2027, we will also reciprocate the gesture which Mr President has given to the people of Bayelsa State.

He added that because Bayelsa State has benefited greatly from Mr President’s magnanimity.

“He gave us this position so that we can use the positions to also spread the good news of “Renewed Hope” and ensure that we renew the hope of our followers and the hope of the people of the Niger Delta using these offices. And I can assure you that those whom Mr President has given these responsibilities in Bayelsa State will not disappoint you. I want to believe that the Minister of Petroleum Resources is also doing well because the price of Crude Oil has also gone up.

“He is complementing the effort of Mr President. We have assured the President that we will use our energy and our resources to ensure that we will deliver Bayelsa to APC come 2027 because we believe anything short of that will be termed as ingratitude.”

In his remarks, Chief Timipre Sylva, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, said he was expecting all to be at the meeting so that the national body of the party would deal with the unity, but regretted that some people were absent.

He disagrees with people saying the APC in Bayelsa State didn’t do well in 2023, adding that the party did well in its 25 states, unlike other states.

He said,” I thought that everyone would have been here so that the national working committee would seal the unity of the party, but unfortunately, some of our people are not here.

“When some people say that we didn’t perform well in 2023, I disagree. We did very well. We were not in the category of those states that could not even produce 25%.

“And today, we are more ready than ever before to do more. The only thing this party has lacked in Bayelsa State is support from the national.

“I want to assure you that with the right support, nobody in Bayelsa State can stand any election with the APC. 2027 is already a done deal as long as we have the support and commitment from you, the national.”

Speaking earlier, the National Chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, represented by the APC Deputy National Chairman, South, Chief Emma Eneukwu, stated that President Tinubu was on the move to take the country to a greater height.

The national chairman also revealed that more governors in the country will join the party ahead of the 2027 general election, adding that President Tinubu has done well, which is the reason why more governors and Senators abandoned their parties to join the APC.

“Our doors are still open, and more governors are still moving into our party. More personalities are still moving in, senators, members of the House of Representatives, are coming in because of the calibre, integrity and the output of the person we have as president.

“Other people who are running around trying to challenge the president in the 2027 election, but of course, you know, when you have a lion and other small animals are barking, the lion doesn’t even take notice of them; he goes about his duties properly, that is what the president is doing.

“It is expected that dogs will bark, it is expected that opposition will speak and rise, but we are assured that we have a product that even a blind man in this country will support overwhelmingly.

“I am very happy with the South South geopolitical zone, because all the governors that were in the other Political parties before have seen the quality of the character of the president and the person we are presenting and marketing to return as the President of the Federal Republic.

“Because of what they saw in Mr President, they have all abandoned their own political parties and joined our great party, so that they can put hands together to move Nigeria forward, and that is very commendable.

“From the South East, we use the South South as an example, because all the governors are very realistic and understanding, they have moved on abandoning their parties, just to make sure that their goal of making Nigeria a greater country is achieved.

“They are leaving their parties to come to APC to support Mr President in 2027 to record an overwhelming victory, so that as we go into 2027, governance will be easier.

“The President is not afraid; he takes the bull by the horns, what others do not have the political will to embark on, he goes about it and he achieves results, this president is on the move to take Nigeria to a greater height.”