Even though the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in last year’s general elections, Peter Obi, has already started making deft political moves to snatch victory in 2027, there are five individuals who could still rein on his parade.
Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State, had a spectacularly good showing in the 2023 presidential election, although he came short of winning.
In the election, he squared off against political powerhouses, All Progressive Congress’ Bola Tinubu, and People’s Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar, and by the time the last valid ballot was counted, his (Obi) credential as the dark horse in the election was validated.
Now, it might not be clear whether “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” is the motivation behind some of Obi’s latest moves, what is however clear is that he is on the march again to take on all comers in another election in 2027 that will test his soaring popularity.
Last year after the Supreme Court dashed his hopes of becoming President by affirming Tinubu’s presidency, Obi promised to continue being an opposition voice against the government, and he did not stop with that.
Obi is also playing a significant role in bridging the gap between him and his erstwhile opponent, Atiku, and has held a closed-door meeting in Abuja with the former Vice President, including a number of other PDP stalwarts.
The meeting with Atiku was a game changer for the opposition and, expectedly, sent the rumour mill churning for a while.
“Atiku will be Obi’s running mate,” “Atiku will step down for Obi,” were some of the tittle-tattles about Obi, who so far has remained resolute and stated for the umpteenth time that he was not desperate to become President.
Already, resistance to Obi’s presidency dreams are mounting in geometric progression and his political opponents understand that he must not be taken lightly. This is why they will move mountains to ensure that they put him off his stride.
RENO OMOKRI
Omokri is a popular social media influencer and also a former media aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
During the electioneering period for the 2019 presidential election, when Atiku and Obi, were running mates under the banner of the PDP, Omokri, a member of the party, sang the high praises of Obi.
“Although Obi has been labouring to be neutral and at some point even denied ever endorsing Abure as chairman of the party, there are fears he might lose workers’ unalloyed support should Abure still be in the big picture in 2027”
He told anyone who cared to listen that Obi was the perfect Vice Presidential candidate among the whole lot of vice-presidential candidates and that he (Omokri) was central to Obi being recommended to Atiku.
Fast-forward through to the presidential contest last year, Obi was not only nursing his own presidential ambition but was no longer a member of the PDP and that did not strike a cord with Omokri, who overnight became Obi’s tormentor.
After the last presidential election was won and lost, Omokri vowed that Obi would never be Nigeria’s president. Omokri claimed that Obidients had insulted his little daughter.
Perhaps to Omokri’s credit, he unearthed the damning truth that Obi did not build any school at all throughout his eight-year stewardship as Governor of Anambra State.
Omokri has also warned Atiku and New Nigeria People’s Party national leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to be wary of forming an alliance with Obi.
CHARLES SOLUDO
Perhaps, among Obi’s detractors, the Governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, was the one who surprised many political pundits.
Soludo, an All Progressives Grand Alliance Governor, is the first citizen of Anambra State, and should be Obi’s number one cheerleader, since they are both from the same state, but it was not to be.
During the buildup to the last presidential election, Soludo came out publicly to make some scathing criticisms of Obi, which made a lot of Nigerians to wonder why the Igbo were fond of pulling their kinsmen down.
In 2022 during a television interview, Soludo left mouths agape when he said that the purported investments made by Obi in Anambra State were worth “next to nothing.”
Less than a week after that explosive interview, Soludo fired the next salvo. He used an article titled, ‘History Beckons and I Will Not Be Silent’ to further provide a reality check for Obi.
In the controversial article, Soludo said that Obi had neither the capability nor the structure to win the presidential election.
Soludo was roasted by Obi’s supporters, the members of the Obidient movement for, according to them, being jealous of Obi’s presidential ambition and for his alleged selfish desire to be the first democratically elected Igbo man to be President.
ATIKU ABUBAKAR
The Wazirin Adamawa, surprisingly, is among those who can hamper Obi’s progress in a presidential election.
During the last presidential election, Atiku and Obi’s aggregated votes surpassed Tinubu’s votes and analysts were quick to explain that had they worked together, they would by now have been calling the shots in the country.
Obi likely got that memo and did not shy away from establishing a good rapport with Atiku.
The trouble, however, is that both men will want to spearhead the charge against the APC in 2027. None of them would naturally want to be the first to blink assuming they reached a stalemate about who would be subservient to the other.
And so if Atiku should abandon the proposition about forming an alliance and Obi went on to contest in 2027 alongside, say Datti Baba-Ahmed, as his running mate, the result will not be any different from 2023.
Obi, therefore, needs Atiku to actualise his presidential ambition in 2027.
But if Atiku is not prepared to play second fiddle to Obi, it would rubbish all the hard work the LP front-runner is putting into emerging as Nigeria’s coveted Commander-in-Chief in three years’ time.
JULIUS ABURE
There is currently a leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party, which has split the party into factions, and Obi has been caught in the cross-fire.
The conflicts between the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress, and LP’s leadership is surely not good publicity for Obi, and if care is not taken might greatly impact his presidential ambition negatively.
The NLC and TUC are, without question, tired of seeing Abure’s face and want him removed from his seat, but the embattled Edo State-born national chairman of the party has vowed to stay on in office.
During the National Convention the Abure-led faction of the party held in Nnewi, in Anambra State, Abure was returned as National Chairman, but the leadership of NLC vowed not to acknowledge his re-election.
Although Obi has been labouring to be neutral and at some point even denied ever endorsing Abure as chairman of the party, there are fears he might lose workers’ unalloyed support should Abure still be in the big picture in 2027.
Though Obi is not willing, at least for now, to deny Abure, analysts say that his stance would be shaken up if he were to be in deep water with the chairman.
BOLA TINUBU
The last hurdle Obi will need to cross towards the finish line of the 2027 presidential election is no other person than the President himself, Tinubu.
The former Governor of Lagos State is a larger-than-life politician and it would be Obi’s greatest political accomplishment if he were to beat Tinubu in 2027.
But, as they say, talk is cheap: Tinubu has not lost any election before and to achieve victory at the polls over him would be similar to a camel passing through the eye of a needle.
Tinubu knows that Atiku and Obi have met to “discuss the worsening state of the nation” and how to “reduce the suffering of the poor” and he will be expecting the two opposition figures to come up with some kind of arrangement between them to challenge his re-election.
Nevertheless, the former Governor of Lagos State has often been praised for being politically shrewd and is expected to dismantle the political structure Atiku and Obi will bring to bear, whether it be an Obi-Atiku or Atiku-Obi presidency.
