WHY I AM RUNNING
Good Morning, Rivers State,
I address you today with humility, gratitude and a clear sense of duty. We are children of the same soil. Whether we come from the riverine communities or the upland communities, whether we were born here or have built our lives here, we share the benefits when Rivers State succeeds and the consequences when it fails. I am asking for your trust because I believe political power must return to public purpose.
For too long, political conflict has consumed attention that should have gone into jobs, schools, healthcare, safer communities, working infrastructure and stronger businesses. The cost of this crisis is not only found in economic estimates. It is found in postponed government decisions, weakened citizens’ confidence, projects delayed or abandoned, businesses that did not expand, young people who waited too long for opportunity, and communities that watched politics become louder than governance.
I do not believe that our people are condemned to fear, factionalisation or permanent quarrel. We can disagree without making enemies of one another. We can compete without violence. We can protect the dignity of every community without turning government into the property of any godfather, faction or private political estate. **Rivers State belongs to the people.**
Rivers State possesses much of what it needs to succeed: human resources, energy and gas, ports and waterways, industrial experience, including enormous potential in tourism, blue economy, agriculture, culture and creativity, and the commercial strength of Port Harcourt. Our challenge is conversion, turning these assets into reliable power, productive firms, safer movement, skilled work, stronger local businesses, better public services and more secure household incomes.
That is why I am running: to move Rivers State from politics without purpose to disciplined and committed public work; from sharing poverty to creating prosperity; and from a State known mainly for oil and gas to a State respected for what its people built, produced and became.
** Rivers State belongs to the people. It needs a Reset.**
We must return to the proper rules and habits of good government, from fear to purpose; from conflict to competence; from noise to work; from political connection to fair opportunity; and from public wealth that is difficult to see in people’s lives to a government that can be judged by clear results.
Reset is not revenge.
For me, Reset Rivers State has six clear implications:
▪︎ We must reset politics so that it becomes peaceful, civil and purposeful;
▪︎ We must reset government so that institutions are honest, predictable and competent;
▪︎ We must reset the economy so that production, services, logistics, enterprise and exports matter more than dependence on monthly allocation;
▪︎ We must reset opportunity so that work, finance, markets and advancement do not depend on political connection;
▪︎ We must reset trust through fairness, truth, continuity and respect for the rule of law;
▪︎ We must reset our commitment to the environment so that clean water, monitoring, emergency response, remediation and resilience are treated as public safety and economic justice.
Our vision is long term but remains honest about what one administration can do. We will lay the foundation for moving Rivers State from the current approximation of a US$20bn economy to one that will become a US$200bn economy in fifteen years.
We will lay the essential foundations for safer politics, honest public finance, more reliable power supply, better logistics, serviced industrial land, thriving tourism sector, employer-linked skills, stronger farms and fisheries, cleaner and safer communities, and projects prepared well enough to attract serious finance and reach operationalisation.
We will be honest about jurisdiction. Rivers State does not control every port, petroleum asset, federal regulator or private concessionaire. We will use our own powers fully and cooperate lawfully where others must act.
This is therefore the covenant I offer you, an administration that can be judged by what works, what reaches the people and whether government tells you the truth about its progress.
Our manifesto is not a catalogue of wishes. Every Local Government Area has a productive role to play. Our statewide systems, power, logistics, skills, food and fisheries, digital services, environmental protection and accountable government must connect communities to the larger Rivers economy. Women, young people, persons with disabilities and people outside political networks must be able to see fairer routes into work, enterprise and public services.
We will use public money with discipline.
The State budget should provide essential public services, prepare serious projects and build infrastructures that enables production. Government should not pretend that ownership is the only path to progress when a commercial project can attract private development financing and professional operatorship.
Useful inherited projects and lawful obligations will be judged on evidence, not on who started them.
We will also treat environmental protection as part of the core duty of government. From riverine communities facing pollution and coastal risk to urban communities facing flooding, unsafe water and failing drainage systems. Our people deserve credible information, faster response and practical protection.
Development that destroys the conditions for life and livelihood is not transformation.
I do not ask for a blank cheque. I ask for the opportunity to serve and be judged by the evidence we publish and the difference our people can see in their lives and communities.
At the end of our tenure, ask whether politics is safer; institutions are more trusted; priority projects have moved beyond announcement; whether small and medium scale enterprises work better in supported areas; whether tourism, the creative sector and blue economy have been given their proper places; whether more people have moved from training into real work; whether environmental monitoring and response are stronger; and whether government tells you clearly what succeeded, what failed and what must be corrected.
I am not asking you merely to support Dumo Lulu-Briggs. I am asking you to join us to return political power to service. Let us choose purpose over capture, work over noise, competence over permanent conflict and prosperity over poverty. Let us build a Rivers State in which every community can say: the State sees us, hears us, respects us and works for us.
Together, by the grace of God, we can Reset Rivers State.
I have set my sights on where our collective strides can take us.
I ask for your trust, and I pledge myself to your service.
Yours ceaselessly,
Dumo Lulu-Briggs
NDC Governorship Candidate for Rivers State | 2027