A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has said supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, risk boosting President Bola Tinubu’s re-election chances if they back the former Anambra State governor in the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking during an interview with Symfoni TV on Wednesday, Okonkwo argued that Nigeria’s opposition must unite behind a single platform to stand a realistic chance of unseating the incumbent president.
According to him, a fragmented opposition would only strengthen Tinubu’s position ahead of the next general election.
“The reason I said it is that either you’re working for Tinubu directly, in other words, you’re in APC, or you’re working for Tinubu indirectly because when you divide the votes of the coalition and the opposition, you’re still making Tinubu better placed to win,” he said.
Okonkwo also criticised Obi’s reported decision to withdraw from coalition discussions within the ADC, claiming that the former Labour Party presidential candidate was unwilling to participate in a competitive primary process.
“Nobody forced Peter Obi to enter ADC. He entered on his own, and one week to the end of the closure of the time, he left and gave the reason. You can’t compete in a primary, and you want to be a politician. You want to be the president of a challenged country, and you’re running away from challenge,” he stated.
The former Labour Party spokesman further claimed that Senator Victor Umeh had previously advocated a political alliance between the South-East and northern political interests as the region’s most viable route to the presidency.
Okonkwo alleged that Umeh told him Obi was reluctant to embrace such advice.
“I told him, ‘Have you told Obi?’ He said yes, but that Peter Obi is very stubborn. That if you tell him anything, he would not believe but would continue to try,” he claimed.
Maintaining that opposition supporters should weigh their choices carefully, Okonkwo warned: “Let me tell you the truth, in 2027, anybody voting any vote whatsoever to Peter Obi, you’re voting for Tinubu, and don’t say that I didn’t tell you.”
