What City People Found Out
Things are not looking good politically for Peter Obi in his home state, Anambra. The former Anambra State governor and Labour Party’s flag bearer at the last 2023 presidential election is a visibly worried man at the moment. Things haven’t quite panned out the way he would’ve loved as far as his political aspirations are concerned in Anambra. And though some may argue that he has not publicly expressed it, but the handwriting is there on the wall for all to see. No doubt about it, Peter Obi couldn’t have been the least pleased with the turn out of events in the last couple of months and even in the recent weeks.
For Obi, it appears his political influence in Anambra is no longer as strong as it used to be. The sort of popularity and influence that he wielded in the south east, and most especially in Anambra, during the 2023 presidential election appears to have waned greatly. And if the realities on the ground are anything to go by, then it can be said that Peter Obi’s waning influence in his home state may only get even worse.
It is no longer news that Peter Obi has since declared his intention to be part of the ADC coalition, a group of politicians who have come together with the intent to unseat the incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu come 2027. He got his first shocker when he got to ADC and was not given the Star treatment he expected. Unlike in 2023, under the Labour Party when he picked the party’s presidential ticket on a platter of gold, Obi has been told he would have to fight to earn the ticket like other aspiring candidates such as Atiku Abubakar and Rotimi Amaechi. This has not gone down well with him, hence the warning from the ADC hierarchy and other personalities like PDP chieftain, Segun Sowunmi, telling him in clear terms that he will not be handed the ADC presidential ticket on a plate, he would have to go through the primaries like everybody else!
But none of this probably bothered him more than the results of the recent By-election held across the country including Peter Obi’s stronghold, Anambra state. The by-election has shown clearly that Obi’s political strength and influence in Anambra state has severely diminished. Despite Obi publicly endorsing the ADC candidate in his home state and campaigning for him, the candidate lost the election and very poorly too.
This is perhaps the reason why the Labour Party Chairman in Lagos State, Dayo Ekong, warned Peter Obi to take a look at his strategies and come up with effective means of regaining the strong political influence he once wielded.
According to her, that “Grace” which carried him then is now fading because of his divisive choices and inconsistent political moves.
“In 2023, Nigerians rallied behind him because he represented a fresh alternative,” Ekong wrote.
“But today, his actions are beginning to erode the foundation of that support.”
Ekong said Obi’s endorsements have failed to deliver victories, citing recent elections as evidence of his weakening political weight.
She also cited the 2024 Edo governorship election, where Obi supported Olumide Akpata, the LP candidate, against the preference of party leaders.
Despite Obi’s rallies in Benin, the Edo State capital, and other places, Akpata lost to Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ekong said the outcome showed Obi’s support no longer guarantees results.
She also recalled the 2023 Imo governorship election, where Obi campaigned for Athan Achonu of the LP, who was defeated by APC’s Hope Uzodimma.
“Back-to-back failures in Imo and Edo should raise questions about Obi’s political strategy,” she said.
The Lagos LP chairperson said the “most embarrassing blow” came during the recent Anambra by-election.
She said Obi abandoned the LP candidate and backed Justina Azuka of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the Onitsha north 1 constituency seat.
According to her, Obi even wore an ADC-branded cap during the campaign, but the party polled only 1,909 votes, while LP also fared poorly in the by-election.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), without Obi’s support, won comfortably with 7,774 votes.
Ekong quoted Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra governor, as saying the results marked the “death” of both LP and ADC in the state.
She noted that Obi’s political missteps have made him lose credibility even in his stronghold.
“A wise politician should know when to stop and think deeply about the direction he is heading,” she said.
Ekong urged Obi to end his fights with LP leadership and focus on rebuilding trust.
We openly criticised Wike for his PDP/APC antics, yet we look away from Obi’s LP/ADC antics,” she added.
“The electorate are watching and slowly making up their minds about 2027.”
Dayo Ekong is only one out of hundreds of Nigerians who believe Peter Obi has lost the influence and popularity he once enjoyed. Lawyer and activist, Deji Adeyanju, also took on Peter Obi on his waning popularity and influence. He said to Obi just before the Anambra by-election:
“If Obi is popular, let him deliver his candidate in Anambra and stop Soludo. But they are too scared to get involved in Anambra politics. But they are interested in politics everywhere else except their state. How do you want to be president but can’t deliver governorship in your state? Let him produce governors in Anambra and all the South East states in 2027. And also stop Otti from working with Tinubu for second term. That is how you show you are popular politically, not trying to use religion for election.”
Not long ago, the Igbo apex group, Ohaneze Ndigbo, released a statement stating categorically that no Igboman will contest president in 2027 against the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying that the possibility of the Southeast producing the president of Nigeria can only be achieved in 2035, not 2027, thereby rejecting a Peter Obi candidacy.
In a statement in Abakaliki signed by Deputy President General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo faction, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, and the National Spokesman, Chief Thompson Ohia, they revealed that the decision was taken after a crucial meeting with Southeast political leaders, Imeobi and Nzukoumunna, in which they resolved that no Igboman will contest president in 2027 against the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, signaling the rejection of a one-term bid.
They maintained that the most practicable political vehicle for the pursuit of the Igbo presidency lies within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2035 if the zoning formula is altered, saying that among notable Igbo sons, the Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, stands out as the most outstanding candidate to lead the country. This, very clearly, shows that a large chunk of the east may not be standing with Obi and things may even get tougher for him by 2027.
Two men can be be credited for the decline in Obi’s influence in Anambra State – the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, an illustrious Anambra son who has never hidden his contempt for Peter Obi. Their political rivalry has been on for quite a few years now and it is a no love lost situation between them.
For President Tinubu, a man widely regarded as a Master Political Strategist, Tinubu has systematically diminished Obi’s strong influence not just in Anambra State but the entire South East by getting the eastern governors to support his 2027 aspiration. One of the ways the president was able to achieve this was his strategy to warm his way into the hearts of the southeast governors. 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 assumption 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. And the Anambra state governor, Chukwuma Soludo, happens to be one of President Tinubu’s biggest allies, a situation that has thrown spanners in the works for Peter Obi in Anambra,
Many will recall that on Thursday, May 8, 2025, the president was in Anambra, a Southeast state under the control of the opposition. He appears to have the state in his bag already as Governor Soludo publicly endorsed his second term bid and declared that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has adopted Tinubu as their consensus candidate in the 2027 election.
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 administration and has positioned himself as a major political force in Nigeria. And because it is no secret that Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo and Peter Obi are not exactly good friends, one can imagine thqat it must’ve been a bit of a painful sight for Peter Obi to watch the President being celebrated right there in his home land. There is no gain saying that Tinubu already has Soludo in his corner and by extension, a large chunk of Anambra too and that is a significant loss for Obi in his home state.
Soludo has been a thorn in Peter Obi’s flesh. Je has made a duty to always scorn Obi at the very least of opportunities. He makes it clear that he has taken full control of Anambra state and it is no longer a Peter Obi stronghold. At the last by-election in Anambra which APGA won by a landslide and ADC, the party Obi campaigned for doing very poorly, Soludo was reported to have said that the by-election had marked the end of both the Labour Party and the ADC in the state. In otherwords, he meant he was bringing to an end Peter Obi’s popularity in the state.
A lot has changed since 2023 when Peter Obi called the shots politically in Anambra. Between that time and now, Soludo has gained full political control of the state and the President has also been a pivotal part of this drop in political fortunes for Peter Obi. Can Obi upturn the situation and turn things around in his favour before 2027? Developments in the coming months will tell…
