2027: NIDDEMOG Challenges Tinubu, Obi, Atiku, Others to Present Niger Delta Blueprint

By Chukwunonso Eric, Warri.

The Niger Delta Development Monitoring Group (NIDDEMOG) has challenged major presidential contenders in the 2027 elections, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, to present clear and actionable blueprints for addressing the longstanding developmental challenges of the Niger Delta.

The group said voters in the region were more interested in concrete commitments on infrastructure, environmental restoration and economic development than political rhetoric and personal attacks.

In a statement issued at the weekend, NIDDEMOG Team Lead, Chief Nengi James-Eriworio, OON, urged presidential candidates to make specific commitments on the completion of the East-West Road, revival of refineries and seaports, coastal protection and comprehensive environmental remediation.

James-Eriworio also called on South-South governors to demonstrate greater political leadership by making any endorsement of a presidential candidate conditional on verifiable commitments to the development of the region, rather than engaging in what he described as political jamborees and blind party loyalty.

He expressed concern that the ongoing controversy surrounding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road had exposed what he described as insufficient understanding of the Niger Delta’s peculiar developmental challenges among some political leaders.

According to him, the region’s problems go beyond pipeline surveillance contracts and the Presidential Amnesty Programme, stressing that communities continue to face serious infrastructure and environmental challenges.

He identified the erosion and displacement of coastal communities, the prolonged abandonment of the East-West Road, non-functional refineries and seaports, gas flaring, climate change and decades of oil pollution as critical issues requiring urgent federal intervention.

NIDDEMOG consequently urged presidential candidates to include a gas-flaring reduction strategy, full completion of the East-West Road, a comprehensive shore-protection programme and a coordinated Niger Delta restoration and remediation plan in their campaign blueprints.

The group also advocated the transformation of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) into a full-fledged agency with a broader mandate for environmental cleanup across the Niger Delta.

James-Eriworio said the group had written to presidential candidates ahead of the formal commencement of campaigns, urging them to focus their debates on practical solutions to coastal erosion, environmental degradation and infrastructure deficits rather than trading blame over the region’s economic challenges.

On the proposed Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, he maintained that the project should not be viewed solely through a political lens, arguing that coastal connectivity has long been a development need in the Niger Delta.

He further called for an increase in the 13 per cent derivation allocation to 20 per cent and urged the Federal Government to compel international oil companies operating in the region to relocate their headquarters and operational offices to the Niger Delta.

The NIDDEMOG leader cited road development in challenging terrains around Agge and Brass in Bayelsa State and Bonny and Opobo in Rivers State as evidence that the region’s difficult geography should not be used as justification for infrastructure neglect.

He stressed that the group was not opposed to any presidential candidate, but wanted all contenders to make clear, measurable commitments to the region.

“We are not against any presidential candidate. All we are saying is that the Niger Delta demands a clear commitment,” he said, while reiterating that the East-West Road and other deteriorating federal roads must receive attention alongside new projects such as the coastal highway.

NIDDEMOG therefore urged South-South governors and other regional leaders to use their political influence to secure firm commitments from presidential candidates on the region’s priorities before the 2027 elections, insisting that the interests of the Niger Delta should take precedence over partisan considerations.