Dr. Doyin Okupe, a former spokesman and ex-Director-General of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation, has stated that the South, rather than the North, should produce the next president in 2027.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Lagos, Okupe emphasized that it would be only fair for the South to take the lead in the upcoming election.
While acknowledging that Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential candidate in 2023, is highly qualified to run in 2027, Okupe argued that it would not be appropriate for the PDP stalwart to assume the presidency.
He clarified that his opposition to an Atiku presidency in 2027 was not based on age but rather on geopolitical considerations.
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Okupe noted that the South should be given the opportunity to complete its eight-year term, just as the North did before President Bola Tinubu took office.
“Atiku failed in 2023, not because he was not a good person, but because people felt that a northern Muslim cannot succeed another northern Muslim after eight years.
“If Atiku still contests in 2027, he has a right. He is eminently qualified and one of the best we have,but geopolitics is an issue.
“The conditionality still persists, a southerner would have just completed four years and needs another four-year term.
“It’s not in the constitution ,but we agree that when a northerner does his eight years, a southerner will do.
“So, the north cannot now terminate the tenure of the south in 2027 .It is not going to work.”,Okupe said.
The former LP leader stated that Peter Obi, the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, could run for the country’s highest office again in 2027, as a southerner.
However, he noted that it would be extremely challenging for Obi to unseat Tinubu, who is currently serving as President and working toward the country’s progress.
“Obi can contest. Obi is a young man, very dynamic and very ambitious; but geopolitics is important in a country that has not achieved horizontal and vertical unity.
“The person who is occupying the place right now, Tinubu, is also a southerner, who is doing well.
“We can see what this gentleman (Tinubu) is doing. I wish Obi luck, but it is going to be an uphill task,” he said.
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Regarding the possibility of political alliances unseating President Tinubu in 2027, Mr. Okupe expressed skepticism, stating that he does not believe any coalition of politicians and parties will succeed in challenging the president.
He argued that such alliances would ultimately fail because the members involved would be unwilling to make the necessary concessions.
“I have been in this game for 40 years and above. I came into politics in 1978. I have been in several talks, discussions and I have represented my party, my movement in several alliances.
“We have not attained that maturity to get to the level of being rational and reasonable and ready to give the necessary concession for a group interest. We are not there yet.
“Even if you look at our private businesses, go and check, 90 per cent of business partnership will crumble within the first three years.
“I wish those who are trying alliance, I wish them luck but it is going to end up the same way it has always ended up. All the alliances will end up in futility,” Mr Okupe said.
On the alliance that brought ex-President Buhari in 2015, Mr Okupe said that though he criticised the alliance, but the leader of the alliance, Tinubu, conceded everything to make it work.
“The man who spearheaded that alliance, has grown beyond this constitution of naivety and selfishness.
“You put up an alliance, you set up a dining table, you cook food, and say other people should go and eat it. It is not done anywhere.
“Everything ,he conceded so that the thing could work,” he said.
He expressed doubt in the readiness and willingness of opposition leaders such as Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, PDP, Peter Obi, LP, and Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso, NNPP, mulling alliance against Tinubu in 2027, to concede for one another.
“If you look at it very well, that kind of maturity does not exist,”
Discussing President Tinubu’s performance, Mr. Okupe expressed that Nigeria is fortunate to have had Tinubu win the 2023 presidential election.
He emphasized that Tinubu possesses a strong sense of purpose, zeal, and clarity in his vision for the country’s future.
Mr. Okupe also drew a comparison, noting that it took Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew 31 years to transform the nation from obscurity into the prosperous first-world country it is today.
“It is either we want this country to move forward and be upgraded, or we want to keep playing politics and destroying the lives of our children,” he said.
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