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| National Chairman of PANDEF and Board of Trustees |
As Nigeria’s political class shifts into higher gear for the 2027 general elections, one of the country’s most influential regional bodies has drawn a firm line in the sand. The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has publicly declared that it is not backing any presidential candidate, including the incumbent, President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The message, delivered on Tuesday by the organisation’s National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Igali, and former Akwa Ibom State Governor Victor Attah, Chairman of PANDEF’s Board of Trustees, was unambiguous: the group remains strictly non-partisan and expects voters in the South-South to judge candidates solely on their ability to advance the interests of the Niger Delta.
The statement came after a meeting of the organisation that brought together former governors, former ministers, traditional rulers and other stakeholders from the six South-South states—Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers. In a region that has long functioned as both an economic powerhouse and a political swing bloc, the refusal to endorse carries weight. It also arrives at a moment when parties and aspirants are already courting endorsements, alliances and regional power brokers.
“Shine Your Eyes”: A Deliberate Call to Independent Judgment
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Ambassador Igali stressed that PANDEF is neither a political party nor a support group. “PANDEF is non-partisan and not supporting any candidate,” he said. “It is not a political party or support group.
We, therefore, call on the people of the South-South to exercise their civic responsibilities peacefully and vote according to their conscience, choosing candidates at all levels whose programmes, commitments, and demonstrated capacity align with the aspirations of the Niger Delta.”
He repeated the message for emphasis: “I repeat, we call on the people of South-South to exercise their civic responsibility peacefully and vote according to their conscience. We call on our people to ‘shine your eyes’ and vote according to their conscience. They should look at candidates who have the capacity to help us as a region and move this country forward.”
Victor Attah reinforced the same position. “We are not aligning ourselves with any candidate. PANDEF has remained entirely neutral and non-partisan. As far as we are concerned, we have stated very clearly that the people of the South-South should shine their eyes and vote for whomever they believe would do their best for the Niger Delta region and the country.”
The language—“shine your eyes”—is deliberate and culturally resonant. It is a direct appeal to voters to look past personality, party loyalty and short-term inducements and instead evaluate track records, policy substance and demonstrated capacity. In a political culture often shaped by transactional endorsements and ethnic or regional bloc voting, the insistence on individual judgment stands out.
Why Neutrality Matters in the Niger Delta
The South-South remains one of Nigeria’s most consequential electoral theatres. Its oil and gas resources underwrite a large share of national revenue, giving the region both economic leverage and political significance.
Past elections have shown that the zone’s votes can influence national outcomes, particularly when turnout is high and preferences align. By declining to anoint a candidate this early, PANDEF is attempting to preserve its credibility as a genuine regional advocate rather than a partisan vehicle.
This stance also reflects internal lessons. Over the years, various Niger Delta groups and leaders have been accused—sometimes fairly, sometimes not—of trading regional grievances for personal or party advantage. PANDEF’s leadership appears determined to avoid that perception.
The organisation’s broader mandate has always centred on uniting the people of the region and advancing structural demands around resource control, environmental remediation and equitable development. Aligning with one presidential ticket at this stage would risk subordinating those long-term goals to the short-term logic of electoral politics.
Igali went further, calling on Niger Delta indigenes currently holding public office—especially at the federal level—to show greater commitment to PANDEF’s work. The implication is clear: holding office in Abuja does not absolve leaders of responsibility to the region that produced them. The organisation wants sustained engagement on the issues that matter to the oil-producing communities, not sporadic appearances when campaigns heat up.
The Persistent Demand for 50 Percent Derivation
Beyond the electoral message, PANDEF used the occasion to restate one of its core policy demands: a substantial increase in the derivation allocation to oil-producing states. The current constitutional minimum stands at 13 percent.
The forum is pushing for 50 percent. Igali argued that higher derivation revenue would help address the environmental pollution, infrastructure deficits and development challenges that continue to confront communities in the oil-producing region.
The group also called for the abolition of the onshore-offshore dichotomy in revenue allocation.
That dichotomy has long been a source of grievance. Communities that bear the environmental and social costs of extraction often feel they receive a disproportionately small share of the benefits, particularly when production occurs offshore.
These demands are not new. They sit within a decades-long conversation about resource control, fiscal federalism and the true cost of oil production in the Niger Delta. Environmental degradation—oil spills, gas flaring, contaminated waterways and damaged livelihoods—remains a lived reality for many communities even as the resources extracted from their land and waters fund national budgets and elite lifestyles.
Higher derivation and clearer revenue-sharing rules are presented by PANDEF as partial remedies: more resources controlled closer to the point of impact, and a fairer recognition of the sacrifices made by host communities.
Whether a 50 percent derivation formula is politically realistic in the near term is another question. Successive federal governments have resisted dramatic upward revisions, citing fiscal pressures, national equity arguments and the need to fund other regions and federal responsibilities.
Yet the demand retains moral and political force precisely because the underlying problems—pollution, underdevelopment and a sense of historical injustice—have not disappeared.
Context of the 2027 Race
The Independent National Electoral Commission has already cleared 18 presidential candidates and their running mates for the January 2027 election. The list includes President Bola Tinubu (APC), Atiku Abubakar (African Democratic Congress), Peter Obi (Nigeria Democratic Congress), Adewole Adebayo (Social Democratic Party) and Omoyele Sowore (African Action Congress), among others.
Campaigns are intensifying, alliances are being tested, and regional forums are under growing pressure to declare preferences.
In this environment, PANDEF’s refusal to endorse is significant. It denies any single candidate the early advantage of a formal regional stamp of approval from one of the Niger Delta’s most visible coordinating platforms. It also places the burden of persuasion firmly on the candidates themselves.
They will have to convince South-South voters—through policy commitments, credible track records and demonstrated understanding of the region’s priorities—rather than relying on elite brokerage.
What This Signals Going Forward
PANDEF’s position is both defensive and proactive. Defensively, it protects the organisation’s claim to speak for broader regional interests rather than narrow partisan ones.
Proactively, it tries to elevate the quality of political conversation in the South-South by insisting that capacity, programme substance and alignment with Niger Delta aspirations should matter more than party labels or personality cults.
Whether voters will respond in that spirit remains to be seen. Nigerian elections are complex, shaped by money, identity, incumbency advantages, security concerns and local dynamics. Yet the call to “shine your eyes” is a useful public standard. It invites citizens to treat the ballot as an instrument of accountability rather than a transactional exchange.
For now, the message from Ambassador Godknows Igali, former Governor Victor Attah and the wider PANDEF leadership is consistent: the organisation is not a campaign vehicle for any presidential hopeful.
Its focus remains the long-term interests of the Niger Delta—higher derivation, environmental justice, infrastructure and genuine development. In an election season already thick with positioning and early endorsements, that neutrality itself constitutes a political statement.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers Global, News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Politics and Technology.
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