Is Tompolo in APC or in PDP? (EDITORIAL)
I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the political landscape of Nigeria, but there’s been a lot of talk about a guy named Tompolo lately. He’s been jumping around between different political parties, which is kind of weird because usually people stick with one party. Political parties are groups of people who come together to represent the public at different levels of government, and they’re guided by a set of rules called the Constitution of the Political Party. Usually, members are expected to be loyal to the party’s Constitution and face serious consequences if they go against it.
Tompolo used to be a big deal in the PDP-led government of Goodluck Jonathan, and he had a lot of influence in the Delta State PDP government as well. But then he got a pipeline surveillance contract from the APC-led federal government, and suddenly he started supporting them instead. He even gave some of the contract slots to a guy in the APC, who ended up winning a Senate seat in Delta South Senatorial District against a PDP candidate.
Tompolo has also been openly supporting the APC candidate in the Beyelsa State governorship election, which is kind of a big deal. And he recently sent a congratulatory message to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is a big shot in the APC. So it’s pretty clear that he’s a member of the APC now.
The weird thing is that he’s still trying to control things in Delta State, which is still controlled by the PDP. He’s even said that he wants to install a Speaker from his Ijaw ethnic group in the Delta State House of Assembly, which is controlled by the PDP. This is kind of a big deal because the Ijaws have already had a lot of political appointments in Delta South Senatorial District, and the other ethnic groups haven’t had any in a long time.
So there are a lot of questions about what Tompolo is up to and why he’s doing what he’s doing. Is the Delta State PDP leadership just letting him do whatever he wants? Does he think he can control the PDP from the APC? And which party does he even belong to now? These are all things that the Delta State PDP leadership needs to figure out and deal with.
