Kenneth Okonkwo, a member of the opposition coalition and former spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar’s 2023 presidential campaign, has asserted that President Bola Tinubu would secure victory in the 2027 election if the African Democratic Congress (ADC) fields a southern presidential candidate like Peter Obi.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ program on Tuesday, the actor-turned-lawyer argued that to unseat Tinubu, the ADC coalition should instead present a powerful northern political figure such as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai, or ex-Sokoto governor Aminu Tambuwal.
“My strategy this time around is that I am going to support a northerner in 2027,” Okonkwo stated.
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He further emphasized, “It must be a northerner that the whole north is willing to support. If the whole north is willing to support an Atiku, why not? If the whole north is willing to support a Tambuwal, why not? The person must be qualified, and if he has experience in the presidency, it is an added advantage, and when he puts up something from the south, that will push him through.”
Okonkwo, who was a spokesperson for Peter Obi’s 2023 campaign, notably parted ways with the former Anambra governor and left the Labour Party in July 2024 due to internal party disputes and Obi’s perceived failure to address them.
President Tinubu, who defeated Atiku and Obi in the 2023 poll and assumed office in May 2023, is expected to seek re-election in 2027, in line with Nigeria’s unwritten rule of power rotation between the southern and northern regions, aiming to complete an eight-year cycle for the South.
His predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, a northern military general, governed from May 2015 to May 2023.
On Tuesday, Okonkwo declared that Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) has “become incurably bad and we want to terminate his incumbency.”
“Anybody telling you it’s injustice if the north comes in, if the south comes in, and whoever wins in a primary election will take it for four years. Where is the injustice? It has happened before.
“Anybody telling you to bring a fresh southerner to compete against Tinubu, a southerner, is trying to tell you to zone the ticket to Tinubu and Tinubu will win outright,” Okonkwo said.
He said since the APC is presenting Tinubu to be its flag bearer, the opposition coalition must present a northerner to challenge him.
“If you bring somebody from the Southeast, even if he wins, they will steal it from him.
“Let me tell you the strategy that will make the Southeast man to be president. Do you know the South-West has never contested an election against an incumbent? Strategy? Because they know that in Nigeria, if you don’t have the establishment supporting you, even if you win, they will steal it from you.
“Peter Obi won the election in 2023, and they stole it from us. If you do it again, they will steal it from him because there is no incumbent to back you, but if you bring somebody from the north, nobody will prevail on him to leave his victory because he is not from the same side as you,” he said.
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