2027: NYCN President, Others Dismiss Claims Obi Will Trail Tinubu, Atiku

LAGOS – Comrade Isah Abubakar, National President, Northern Youth Coun­cil of Nigeria (NYCN); Shina Loremikan, Executive Director, Campaign Against Impunity, and Engineer Martin Onovo, former presidential candidate, have de­bunked claims that the presiden­tial candidate of the Nigeria Dem­ocratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, will trail President Bola Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 general elections because of the failure of his party to field 14 governorship candidates and 140 National Assembly candidates.

According to them, Obi is like an independent candidate who doesn’t need the support of anybody or structures to win an election.

Recall that there are specula­tions in some quarters that the inability of the NDC to field can­didates 100 percent ahead of the general elections would put Obi in a disadvantaged position.

Also recall that Umar Ardo, convener, League of Northern Democrats, in his analysis on Tuesday, said that Obi will have problem winning the election because the NDC didn’t fill gover­norship candidates in 11 states of the federation. He noted that after the Supreme Court judgment, INEC added three more states to the 11 that NDC didn’t fill, which is Kano, Kaduna, and Nasarawa, making NDC to have no governor­ship candidates in 14 states. He also mentioned that NDC didn’t fill can­didates in the National Assembly’s 140 constituencies. He concluded by saying that will make Obi come a distant third in the election.

Abubakar, in his remarks, not­ed that Obi has built his political independence, not on people in political offices, saying that the former Anambra State governor is more or less like an independent candidate.

He said, “When you look at his history, from 2023 general elections, you’ll understand that he’s some­one that is just like an independent candidate, who doesn’t really need to rely on any political actor to get the support he needs. Obi already has indigenous supporters. Obi doesn’t need governors, House of Representatives members to make him win an election.”

According to Abubakar, the election is between Obi and Atiku Abubakar, insisting that President Bola Tinubu will come a distant third if election holds today.

He added, “So, the supporters or the believers of Obi presidency just know that if an election will be credible, it’s going to be by voting, they believe they’ll always produce the vote that will make him win an election. Thinking that Obi will come third in this race is a mirage.

“If an election is put on the ta­ble between the three major politi­cal parties, the APC, the ADC and the NDC, Tinubu will come distant third. If the election is going to be free, fair and credible, the election might lead to rerun, but Tinubu won’t be part of the rerun.

“Nigerians are tired of the hardship, the insecurity, the level of poverty. Nigerians are frustrat­ed, and Nigerians cannot even wait to have this day of election. The only thing that will save President Tinubu from a disastrous loss in this election, is if this election is manipulated. If you talk with any APC stalwart, they’ll say that they know there’s not going to be a free and fair and credible election; that they’re going to manipulate the election.”

Loremikan on his part believes that Obi is not disadvantaged, that what matters is the character of the candidate.

According to him, the opposi­tion parties must come together to get rid of the ruling party which has subjected Nigerians to too much hardship.

He said, “Winning an election isn’t about structure, it’s about ‘don’t allow the people to be di­vided’, ‘let the people be united’. The party doesn’t matter, it’s the character of the candidate that does. Shehu Shagari won because many people had money to con­tribute to his campaign, Goodluck Jonathan won because many peo­ple had money to contribute to his campaign, Obasanjo won because many people contributed. The rul­ing party doesn’t need anybody, it’s the one man who has all the money.

So, if you now decide that we’re not voting for the richest man, why not, bring your money, we know what to do, but unfortunately if the six to 11 presidential candidates can­not have a bloc decision, we all will suffer, including them.”

He added, “It’s not about gov­ernment, it’s not about party, it’s about electoral sentiment, ‘I want to punish you, I want to show you that we’re united’. If we have that, the sky is the limit. Every day the attitude of the government is also making them lose grip of the ground they already have. I’m feel­ing the hardship; my children are feeling it. Look at what is happen­ing all over Europe, schools that are free, people are still on the street for over 21 days, and their classrooms are crowded. Here in Nigeria we’re paying, our classrooms are crowd­ed, our teachers are not giving us the best, the toilets are not there, water is not there, but we’re not protesting. Nigeria needs to elect a candidate that will deliver. It’s not about voting for money bags but the person who can transform the lives of the people.”

Onovo maintained that those peddling the narrative that Peter Obi will trail because of the inabil­ity of NDC to field candidates are sponsored by the APC.

According to him, all Obi needs is the support of Nigerians to win the election, stressing that the forthcoming election is going to be between the APC and Nigerians.

He said, “This narrative is from opposition parties sponsored by the APC. From day one you have been told that it’s APC versus Ni­gerians. We’re the Nigerians, and we’ll defeat them. They stand no chance, and once we take away the presidency from them, all their power is gone. If they like, let them disqualify everybody, after all, they did everything to frustrate Peter Obi. He told them that he’ll be on the ballot. What did they not do? They scattered Labour Party. Now Peter Obi is on the ballot, they went to their inauguration, all they were talking about is Pe­ter Obi. Why can’t they talk about themselves? They know the game is over, they know the candidate of the day. Let them disqualify every­body, we don’t give a damn. We’ll take the presidency from them, and then we’ll take our country back. We’re going to take it from them, there’s nothing they can do, and if they create crisis, they’ll suffer the consequences of the crisis.”

Joy Anigbogu is Politics Editor with Independent Newspapers.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Independent Newspapers Limited, registered on July 17, 2001 (RC No: 419927), commenced publication on October 1, 2001. With registered office at 15b, Daranijo Street, off Odusami street, off Wemco road, Ogba, Ikeja