Possibly for the first time in the history of Nigeria’s fledgling democracy, the political landscape is heating up for a presidential election that is still two whole years away. All the top political players are already aligning and realigning with political affiliations all in a bid to be properly positioned to seize power via the ballot box come 2027. Former vice president and PDP Presidential flag bearer at the last 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s standard bearer at the same election, appear to be working round the clock, leaving no stone unturned to ensure they realise their individual political aspirations. It is in the light of the foregoing that the duo, along with former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, are planning to form a coalition that is expected to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the next presidential election. How this much touted coalition will take form and then gather enough political muscle and momentum to achieve its purpose remains to be seen.
For President Bola Tinubu, he, along with top drivers of the ruling party, have quietly gone about their mission to strengthen the hold of the party in its sytrongholds and extend its tentacles to areas where they seem to have no strong political base or support. Mr. President himself has been making efforts to break into the South East states and outsmart his opponents, including particularly Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, ahead of the 2027 election. Though it does appear that the president could have foreseen a possible alliance between Atiku and Obi, winning the southeast would be a boost for him and a knock for Obi. While two of the 5 states in the region are already under the control of the APC, the president has been building alliances with the 3 remaining state governors.
As it is, President Bola Tinubu’s second term bid is facing a serious threat ahead of the 2027 general election. This is because his two major opponents, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, are already making great efforts to sack him.
Recall that Atiku and Obi garnered over six million votes each in the 2023 presidential election, while Tinubu got over eight million votes. Thus, the alliance between Atiku and Obi was projected to sack President Tinubu in the 2027 election.
Tinubu, who has always been tagged as a political strategist, has always been making strategic moves to secure his re-election and ensure that the opposition leaders do not have their way to the presidential villa after the 2027 election.
One of the moves by the president is a plot to win the southeast in the 2027 election. The southeast is considered the stronghold of Peter Obi, where he got almost 100 per cent of the votes from the region in the last election. The President himself has been busy making very strong alliances ahead of 2027 Those who have been following the political happenings closely will recall that President Tinubu, since his resumption of office, has tactically started the campaign for his second term. He has been building bridges across party lines, and there seems to be a special proximity between him and governors of the southeast states, particularly, the three states under the opposition.
On February 27, 2024, he was represented by the Vice President Kashim Shettima in visiting and commissioning projects in Abia State. The President commended Governor Alex Oti, the only governor on the platform of the Labour Party, for his outstanding performance in transforming Abia State within such a short time in office. Similarly, the president was in Enugu in January and commended Governor Peter Mbah of the PDP after commissioning some projects.
On Thursday, May 8, the president was in Anambra, another southeast state under the control of the opposition. He appeared to have the state in his bag as Governor Soludo publicly endorsed his second term bid and declared that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has adopted him as their consensus candidate in the 2027 election.
Interestingly, President Tinubu visited Abia State making it the second time he will be visiting the only Labour Party state in four months. While two of the five southeast states, Imo and Ebonyi States, are currently under the control of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the president is getting closer to others for an alliance. The President made remarkable progress in his quest to win massive votes in the south east when he was crowned with the title of ‘Dike Si Mba’ of Anambra, which simply means ‘Hero from another land’.
Tinubu was given the title by the traditional ruler council of Anambra, the home state of Peter Obi, a major political opponent of the president, ahead of the 2027 election. Obi, who made history in the 2023 presidential election, has been a major critic of Tinubu’s administration and has positioned himself as a major political force in Nigeria. It is no secret that Anambra State Governor, Chukw2uma Soludo and Peter Obi are not exactly good friends. It must be a bit of a painful sight for Peter Obi to watch the President being celebrated right there in his home land. Without a doubt, Tinubu already has Soludo in his corner. And same for Governor Alex Otti of Abia stare.
Just days ago, Alex Otti came out, yet again, to publicly acknowledge the reforms and economic policies of the president. And while he acknowledged that he was not planning to work for the re-election of the President come 2027, which he reminded the political class is still far away, he stated categorically that he supports the President’s policies, regardless of the fact that he belongs to the Labour Party.
Otti said, “When you talk about supporting President Tinubu, the President and I are very good friends and our friendship predates party politics and current positions; we agree on so many issues, and as it is natural, we know where we disagree. But, when you talk about the economy, what Mr. President is doing has always been my position for a long time,”
Otti recalled his columns at the back of Thisday Newspaper, some years back, especially during the Covid-19, where he made strong case for abolition of fuel subsidy.
ýHe said:“So, it requires somebody with courage to remove that subsidy and I am in support of it. We have behaved in an irresponsible manner for a very long time. And, when you have years of irresponsible behavior, the correction would be tough, difficult, and painful. It is the correction that we are going through now; if we don’t lose faith, we will eventually get it right.
So, talking about supporting the President, it’s a no-brainer; I will continue to support him because it is the same administration,” Gov. Otti declared.
Taking a swipe at those already campaigning about 2027, Otti said: “People in 2025 are talking of 2027… you can’t even talk about 2027 because there is no guarantee that you would go beyond 2025.”
Political observers, already, believe that Alex Otti’s heart is with the President and as such would do everything within his power to ensure that Ebonyi people vote for APC during the presidential election, moreso when the party has no strong presidential candidate that can challenge Tinubu come 2027. Indeed, winning the five major states in the south east region is no longer looking like an impossible task, if he continues with the momentum he has going for him now, by 2027, he would surely have the five big Igbo states in the bag.
-Wale Lawal
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