BAYELSA GOVERNOR SAYS TINUBU’S STATE POLICING REFORM, NEMBE-BRASS ROAD APPROVAL AND SUPPORT FOR POWER PROJECTS SHOW HE CAN DELIVER A RESTRUCTURED NIGERIA
YENAGOA — Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has thrown his political weight behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for a second term in 2027, arguing that the President’s re-election could provide the strongest opportunity for Nigeria to achieve the restructuring of the federation long demanded by many Nigerians, particularly in the Niger Delta.
Diri made the declaration in Yenagoa while addressing the State Working Committee Retreat of the City Boy Movement (CBM), a support group campaigning for Tinubu’s return to office.
The governor, who has openly embraced the All Progressives Congress (APC), said his support for Tinubu was influenced not only by political considerations but also by what he described as federal interventions in Bayelsa State and the President’s willingness to pursue reforms that previous administrations had been unable to achieve.
At the centre of Diri’s argument is the issue of state policing, which he identified as an important step towards deeper restructuring of Nigeria.
“I am an advocate of restructuring, and President Tinubu is doing things that people had not succeeded in doing, such as state policing,” Diri said.
“For us in Bayelsa, we want to control our resources and pay tax to the centre, and I believe that if we must achieve that, this President is one we must follow. We have seen a President who is stable and capable. Let us allow him to complete his second term.”
Diri’s position places restructuring at the heart of his political justification for supporting Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
For decades, restructuring has remained one of the most politically sensitive demands in Nigeria, particularly in the South and Niger Delta, where advocates have pushed for greater fiscal autonomy, resource control, stronger subnational governments and a rebalancing of the relationship between the Federal Government and the states.
The Bayelsa governor argued that Tinubu’s reforms could create the political environment required to advance some of those demands.
He specifically pointed to the President’s support for major projects in Bayelsa, including the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road and waivers granted for imported gas turbines.
The Federal Government has previously confirmed the President’s support for both interventions. During Tinubu’s April 2026 visit to Bayelsa, the Federal Ministry of Information reported that Diri acknowledged presidential support for waivers covering imported power turbines and the approval of Phase Two of the Nembe-Brass Road project.
Diri has also previously described the Nembe-Brass Road as a transformational project for communities that have historically faced severe transportation difficulties because of Bayelsa’s riverine terrain.
The first phase is being undertaken by the Bayelsa State Government, while Tinubu approved the second phase at the federal level.
The governor told members of the City Boy Movement that those interventions demonstrated why he believed Bayelsans should support the President.
“President Tinubu has supported the development of Bayelsa State and deserves the support of the people,” he said.
Diri, however, did not stop at presidential endorsement.
He challenged members of the City Boy Movement to move beyond social media campaigns and establish a serious grassroots political structure ahead of 2027.
According to him, political victory would not be secured by online activity alone.
He urged the movement to work with the existing APC structures both in Bayelsa and at the national level, stressing the importance of door-to-door mobilisation and direct engagement with voters.
The governor also described what he sees as a gradual movement away from violence and intimidation towards knowledge-driven political participation.
He commended the CBM for its mobilisation efforts and urged its members to ensure that political campaigns remained peaceful.
The development is significant because Diri himself was elected governor of Bayelsa on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and has traditionally been identified with the opposition political establishment in the state.
His increasingly open alignment with the APC and endorsement of Tinubu therefore represents a major political development in the Niger Delta ahead of the 2027 election.
Bayelsa APC Chairman, Warman Ogoriba, welcomed Diri’s support and said the party would pursue a strategic political approach rather than engage in unnecessary confrontations with opponents.
The governor’s intervention also comes as political groups across the country intensify mobilisation for the 2027 presidential contest.
The CBM has been particularly active in promoting Tinubu’s re-election, with Diri now urging the group to consolidate its political activities at the grassroots.
But while Diri has linked Tinubu’s second-term bid to restructuring, his argument is ultimately political rather than a guarantee that a particular restructuring arrangement will be implemented.
State policing, resource control and fiscal restructuring remain subjects of wider national debate, and any fundamental alteration to Nigeria’s federal structure would involve political, constitutional and legislative processes extending beyond the authority of the President alone.
Nevertheless, Diri believes Tinubu’s record and reform agenda make him better positioned to pursue such changes.
The governor’s comments also come against the background of increasing federal-state collaboration on Bayelsa infrastructure.
In April, Diri praised Tinubu for supporting Bayelsa’s 60-megawatt gas-fired power project through federal policy interventions and waivers for imported turbines and equipment. The President subsequently inaugurated the power plant and other projects in the state.
Diri Demands More Space For Law Students At NDU
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa governor has separately appealed to the Council of Legal Education to significantly increase the admission quota for law students at the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU).
Diri made the request when an accreditation panel from the Council of Legal Education, led by the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr Olugbemisola Odusote, visited the Government House in Yenagoa.
The governor wants the current admission quota of 80 law students increased to about 300.
He said the request was consistent with his administration’s policy of expanding access to quality legal education and strengthening state-owned tertiary institutions.
Diri said Bayelsa carries a substantial financial burden because of its investment in several state-owned universities and other tertiary institutions.
He nevertheless maintained that expanding access to education remained necessary for the state’s development.
“We have about three state-owned universities apart from other tertiary schools such as polytechnics and colleges of education. So, you can see the burden is so much on the state government. But we have no choice because that is the way to go,” he said.
The governor expressed optimism that improvements would be made to both the NDU Faculty of Law and the Yenagoa campus of the Nigerian Law School before the next accreditation visit.
He directed the Commissioners for Education and Works and Infrastructure to inspect the Nigerian Law School campus following requests for government assistance, including the clearing of waterlogged areas and pits.
Odusote, who commended Diri for his support for legal education in Bayelsa, said the accreditation exercise was part of the Council of Legal Education’s routine quality-assurance process for law faculties across Nigeria.
According to her, the facilities at the NDU Faculty of Law were generally in good shape but required further investment to meet international standards.
She called for increased investment in human resources and infrastructure and requested additional facilities, including permanent staff quarters, more office accommodation for lecturers, lecture halls, smart boards and an expanded faculty library.
The Nigerian Law School DG also appealed for solar-powered lighting at the campus and a connection to the state’s gas-turbine power plant to reduce the institution’s dependence on diesel-powered generators.
The Council is expected to submit its full accreditation report for further consideration.
For Diri, the two developments — his political support for Tinubu and his push for expanded legal education — reflect two different aspects of his administration’s current agenda: greater political cooperation with the Federal Government and increased investment in Bayelsa’s institutions.
His endorsement of Tinubu, however, is likely to attract considerable political attention as the 2027 election approaches, particularly because it comes from a sitting PDP governor who is now openly arguing that the President’s continuation in office could help deliver the restructuring he has advocated.
For the Niger Delta, where resource control and fiscal federalism have remained central political demands for decades, Diri’s position is especially significant.
His message is clear: he believes the road to the restructuring of Nigeria may now run through Tinubu’s second term.
