Politics
Peter Obi In Dilemma Over 2027 Presidential Ticket As Chances Slim In ADC, LP, PDP
Party sources said that even if Obi decides to return to the PDP, he stands a little chance of clinching the ticket, which some members think should be handed over to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The odds seem to be stacking up against the presidential aspiration of former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, ahead of the 2027 elections, according to indications from his inner circle
Obi, who flew the flag of the LP in 2023 and placed third in the election, is yet to declare the platform he intends to use to realise his ambition in the next election
Although he claims to remain an LP member, he has been hobnobbing lately with the Africa Democratic Party (ADC) whose ticket, observers say, appears to be ready made for former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
The ADC structure is dominated by Atiku’s allies, including the interim national chairman, Chief David Mark and the national secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
Mark has denied that his executive committee is working for Atiku but Obi’s supporters appear not convinced.
They are openly alleging marginalization and have formally submitted a petition to Obi on the unfolding situation in ADC.
National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Dr Tanko Yunusa, who signed the petition, claimed that the marginalization manifests at all levels.
“Our people are deliberately excluded at all levels,” he said, adding: “Several of our designated representatives and members are reportedly being excluded from crucial meetings where major decisions affecting the coalition are made.
“This creates an impression of marginalisation and undermines trust, which is essential for building a sustainable partnership.
“The current structure does not reflect the Obidient Movement’s strength and contribution to this coalition.
“We strongly believe that there should be at least one working committee member and one non-working committee member representing the Obidient Movement in each geopolitical zone.”
While the Atiku camp is said to be opened to offering Obi the vice presidential ticket, the former Anambra State governor and his supporters are insisting on the presidential ticket.
Party sources said given the present structure of the ADC, it will be very difficult for Obi to defeat Atiku in the presidential primary
“Even if Obi gets the ticket, he will be naïve to expect Atiku to campaign for him,” one source said.
He added: “In 2014, Atiku joined the APC after the party had been formed by other people, because he realised that Jonathan was firmly in control of PDP.
“That was why he ran to APC to seek the ticket despite the fact that he was not a foundation member.
“When he was beaten to the ticket by Buhari, he became lukewarm, unbothered by the party’s chances.
“In 2019, he returned to the PDP, ran against Buhari but lost. His ambition still lingers and nobody can take the (ADC) ticket from him.
“He became an advocate of single term out of desperation. The zoning principle means nothing to him. Is that the man that Obi wants to contest the ticket with?”
In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on whose ticket Obi ran as Atiku’s running mate in 2019 many top shots want him back and have been trying to lure him with the party’s ticket.
However, a major bloc in the party does not believe he has the capacity to run the country.
A few days ago, a founding member of the PDP, Prof. Jerry Gana, admitted that the party was discussing with Obi and other prominent Southern political figures ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Peter Obi is our product. We want to get him back, indeed, because he is a very, very great capital for any political party,” Gana said in a television interview.
Also last Friday, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed publicly invited Obi to return to the party.
However, the PDP today is not the same party Obi left in 2019.
Its rank has been depleted following the crises that trailed the party’s 2022 presidential primaries.
Many of its top members, including two serving governors, its vice presidential candidate in 2023, federal and state legislators and others have dumped it for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and others.
Party sources said that even if Obi decides to return to the party, he stands a little chance of clinching the ticket, which some members think should be handed over to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Prominent PDP members including former deputy national chairman Chief Olabode George, Governor Bala Mohammed and former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido are believed to be among those rooting for Jonathan, an Obi strategist, who does not want to be identified told The Nation on Friday. “The PDP appears ruled out and we are advising him to stick to the LP,” he said.
Though LP itself is badly factionalized, it looks the best bet, he added.
On one side of the LP is the Esther Nenadi Usman-led national caretaker committee to which Obi belongs.
Mrs. Usman is regarded by core members as an outsider whose influence in the party is peripheral.
On the other side is the Julius Abure faction which has fallen out with Obi.
Abure and Usman are still giving different interpretations to the recent judgment of the Supreme Court on the authentic chairman of the party.
Party sources said if the issue of leadership is not trashed out on time, it may pose a legal obstacle to Obi’s ambition at some point.
Like the PDP, the leadership crisis in LP has forced out many of its top members, including federal and state lawmakers.
Besides, the fervor that greeted the Obi brand in 2023 has waned considerably and the party is no longer as formidable as it was in the last elections.
Nonetheless, not a few loyalists of Obi believe the LP remains a viable platform for him. ” He should be consistent lest he will be like the serial presidential defector whom Nigerians have contempt for, ” another of his loyalists said.
“I can assure you that he is weighing the options and the right decision will be taken,” he said
A former House of Representatives aspirant under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mohammed Danjuma, has joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Danjuma, popularly known as Garkuwa Babba, was the ADC aspirant for the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency and also served as National Chairman of the ADC House of Representatives Aspirants Forum.
He announced his defection after meeting with Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, at the Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, Naija News understands.
During the meeting, Danjuma declared his support for the APC and pledged to mobilize his political network and grassroots supporters for the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said he would support Governor Yahaya’s senatorial ambition, the APC governorship candidate in the state, Dr Jamilu Isiyaku Gwamna, and other candidates of the party.
Danjuma said his decision to leave the ADC was largely influenced by Yahaya’s leadership, performance and development record in Gombe State.
He praised the governor for what he described as tangible development across the state, saying his achievements had boosted confidence in the APC and reduced the appeal of opposition parties among voters.
According to him, joining the APC was a deliberate move to support continuity, stability and further development in Gombe State.
Receiving Danjuma, Governor Yahaya welcomed his decision to join the APC, describing the development as a major boost for the party.
The governor assured the new APC member and his supporters of an inclusive and united party, stressing the importance of unity, loyalty and collective effort.
Yahaya said the APC remained open to individuals and groups who shared the vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Gombe State.
He added that Danjuma’s political experience, network and grassroots reach would be valuable to the party.
The governor also urged APC members and stakeholders to remain united, saying the strength of the party depended on its ability to accommodate different interests while working towards the development of Gombe State.
“These men and women will carry the ADC banner and our commitment to offer Nigerians credible leadership and a real alternative,” the party said.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has released the names of its governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the 2027 elections in 28 states
The list, signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, includes several prominent politicians and former public officials seeking to contest the poll.
“These men and women will carry the ADC banner and our commitment to offer Nigerians credible leadership and a real alternative,” Mr Abdullahi wrote in a post on X on Friday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the governorship elections for 6 February, 2027. It will hold alongside the state House of Assembly elections.
The remaining eight states hold their governorship elections outside of the regular election season as a result of previous court decisions. The eight states are Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun.
The presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on 16 January, 2027.
ADC governorship candidates
The candidates and their running mates are Kalu Agu and Alozie Darlington (Abia); Modibbo Ribadu and Aguwa Iliya (Adamawa); and Akpanudedehe James and Nsien Tommy (Akwa Ibom); Halliru Jika and Sama’ila Mohammed Kabir (Bauchi); Herman Iorwase Hembe and Abba John Abba (Benue); Babagana Buhari and Mamman Dauda (Borno); Nkoyo Toyo and OkwoChe Andrew Adagbor (Cross River; and Great Ogboru and Afiari Gloria (Delta).
Others are Ukpai Mba Udeh and Onwe Daniel Ede (Ebonyi); Ocho Obodeze Chukwuma and Eze Arinze Christopher (Enugu); Bala Bello and Bala Sani Isa (Gombe); Sabo Mohammed Nakudu and Musa Ya’u Balarabe (Bauchi); and Isa Mohammed Ashiru and Kantiok Irmiya Ishaku (Kaduna).
There are also Ibrahim Ali Amin and Shehu Abdulkadir Bari (Kano); Ahmad Baba Kaita and Aminu Yar’Adua Ahmed (Katsina), Abubakar Malami and Zagi Musa Mohammed (Kebbi); Zakari Mohammed and Olawuyi Julius Olayide (Kwara); Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and Gbadamosi Babatunde Olalere (Lagos).
The list also includes Nuhu Angbazo and Ahmed Yusuf (Nasarawa); Mohammed Kpautagi and Musa Mamman (Niger); Biodun Collins Ogundipe and Muraina Oluwaranti Oluyemi (Ogun); Taofeek Adegboyega Adegoke and Wahab Adeniyi (Oyo); and John Sunday Sura and Pwajok-Kele Chundung Bitrus (Plateau).
The remaining candidates are Gabriel Pidomson and Okumgba David Amapakaye (Rivers); Manir Mohammad Daniya and Isah Bello Ambarura (Sokoto); Abubakar Umar Tutare and Kwetishe Haruna Kwenyan (Taraba); Kassim G. Gaidam and Kori Lawan Mohammed (Yobe); and Shinkafi Bilyaminu Yusuf and Muhammad Abdulmuddalib Auwal (Zamfara).
ADC performance in off-cycle elections
Since the ADC was adopted as the platform for the opposition coalition in 2025, it has struggled to make a significant impact in the three off-cycle elections held in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun off-cycle governorship elections.
In the 2025 Anambra governorship election, APGA’s Chukwuma Soludo was re-elected with 422,664 votes, defeating APC’s Nicholas Ukachukwu, who polled 99,445 votes. John Nwosu, the ADC candidate, finished fifth with 8,208 votes, representing about 1.4 per cent of the 584,054 valid votes cast.
In the 2026 Ekiti governorship election, the ADC candidate, Dare Bejide, finished third with 12,872 votes, accounting for about 3.4 per cent of the 375,777 valid votes cast.
In last month’s Osun governorship election, the ADC candidate, Najeem Salaam, came third with 1.7 per cent (17,180) of the 985,079 valid votes cast.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described the exit of global ride-hailing brand Uber from Nigeria, alongside the shutdown or scaling down of operations by several major international companies, as further evidence that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies are turning Nigeria into a “graveyard of businesses.”
Naija News reports that global ride-hailing company, Uber, had announced the shutdown of its operations in Nigeria, bringing an end to a 12-year presence in the country.
The company said its services would cease in Nigeria from September 2, 2026, following a review of its business operations
Uber disclosed the decision in a statement issued on Wednesday, describing its departure from the Nigerian market as a difficult one.
Reacting in a statement on Thursday, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the growing list of businesses shutting down, scaling back or leaving the country exposes the widening gap between the government’s claims of economic progress and the reality confronting businesses and ordinary Nigerians.
The party said it was particularly astonishing that President Tinubu and his government were celebrating a marginal 0.2 percentage-point improvement in GDP at a time when businesses are closing, jobs are disappearing and millions of Nigerians are sinking deeper into poverty.
“Certainly, a 0.2% growth does not justify the extreme hardship that Nigerians are suffering,” the party said.
He argued that while the Tinubu government celebrates a marginal improvement of 0.2 percentage points, Nigeria’s poverty rate has snowballed to 63%, affecting an estimated 140 million Nigerians.
The ADC also asked President Tinubu to explain 0.2% GDP growth to the 140 million Nigerians who have sunk into poverty since he came to power; the workers who have watched the value of their salaries disappear; businesses that have struggled with energy costs; and millions who have been forced to reduce the quantity and quality of food on their tables.
“When the President and his party say things are getting better, we expect them to tell us what has improved in the lives of Nigerians. They should tell us how much food their “GDP growth” has put on the tables. They should tell us which bill it has paid. If 0.2% is a mark of success in their books, President Tinubu and APC should tell us what they consider as failure,” the ADC said.
The party said that Uber’s exit after twelve years in Nigeria reflects the increasingly hostile operating environment confronting businesses, particularly the soaring cost of energy and transportation, with the price of fuel rising by as much as 1,700% following the removal of fuel subsidy and devaluation of the naira.
“This is precisely why the ADC Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has proposed the restoration of a targeted fuel subsidy to bring down the cost of fuel, transportation and production,” the party said.
It also cited the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria’s earlier report that 767 manufacturing companies, including 20 iconic global brands, have shut down or ceased operations in Nigeria, while hundreds more are distressed since President Tinubu assumed office in 2024. It listed among the companies that have shut down or scaled down operations in the country to include Microsoft, Jumia and Bolt Food, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi-Aventis, Bayer AG, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and PZ Cussons, among others.
“Therefore, when the President announces that Nigeria has turned the corner, we wonder which corner he is talking about. If indeed the economy is improving, or the slightest hope exists in the minds of those who run these businesses that this APC government can improve the economy, why are they closing shop and moving elsewhere?” ADC asked, citing the example of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which it said shut down manufacturing in Nigeria after 50 years.
“The painful truth is that Tinubu has turned Nigeria into a graveyard of businesses. Every business that shuts down or pulls out is a vote of no confidence in the Tinubu administration and its capacity to manage the economy. Each exit delivers a blow to the economy. But perhaps, more importantly, each one represents a massive loss of jobs and increased poverty.
“Therefore, when the APC and its government celebrate even the most negligible shift in GDP numbers and flaunt that as evidence to show that things are getting better, they are immediately contradicted by the painful reality that Nigerians are getting poorer and hungrier. Those who had jobs yesterday are not sure how long it will take before their employers close shop, and those earning salaries are struggling even to transport themselves to work,” the party concludes.
ADC reiterated that its presidential candidate’s plan to subsidise the production costs of fuel to make it more affordable will bring down the cost of living, make businesses more profitable, and create jobs across sectors.
SO SAD: Nigerian Bishop Shot Dead In Shocking Attack
New Files Allege Sudan Military Built Chlorine Weapons Program
Former Nigerian Senator dies At 62
Former Super Eagles Star Loses Life Savings, Duped By A Pastor of ₦1.2 Billion
I’m A Married Man, I Can Never Get Myself Involved With Such A Thing, Delta Gov Aide Reveals Why He Offered Comfort ₦500,000 Job
