2027: Tinubu’ll ‘eat Obi like biscuits’ without coalition — Okonkwo

Spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign, Kenneth Okonkwo, has warned that President Bola Tinubu could defeat former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi in the 2027 presidential election if the opposition fails to unite behind a common platform and candidate.

Okonkwo said an opposition coalition remains the most realistic route to defeating Tinubu, arguing that individual opposition candidates would struggle to overcome the political strength of the incumbent if they contest the election separately.

He made the remarks during an interview with Ibeju Upgrade Media, while reacting to the emerging political alignments ahead of the 2027 election and the possibility of Obi challenging Tinubu.

Okonkwo was particularly dismissive of Obi’s chances of defeating Tinubu without a wider opposition alliance, including the possibility of Obi contesting alongside former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.

“Coalition is the only way out,” Okonkwo said, stressing the need for opposition parties and political actors to consolidate their support instead of entering the presidential contest separately.

He argued that a divided opposition could split the votes of Nigerians seeking an alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and consequently give Tinubu an advantage at the polls.

Okonkwo was emphatic in his assessment of an Obi-Tinubu contest without a broader coalition.

“So, if Peter Obi goes against Tinubu alone, Tinubu will eat him like biscuits,” he said.

The former Labour Party chieftain also questioned whether Obi could secure sufficient support in northern Nigeria, particularly in Kano State, to mount a serious challenge against Tinubu without the backing of other major opposition blocs.

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“Will Kano people accept Peter Obi? In 2023, when we had the opportunity, they did not accept him. In 2027, they will not accept him,” Okonkwo said.

His criticism also extended to Kwankwaso, whose political influence in Kano and the wider North-West has made him an important figure in discussions about opposition strategy ahead of 2027.

Kwankwaso was a major contender in the 2023 presidential election and has maintained a strong political base in Kano. His potential partnership with Obi has therefore attracted considerable attention among opposition supporters and political observers.

Okonkwo, however, dismissed the suggestion that Kwankwaso would significantly strengthen an Obi-led ticket.

“Kwankwaso has nothing to contribute to the ticket. Even in Kano, Kwankwaso has lost,” he said.

The comments come amid renewed efforts to construct a united opposition coalition capable of challenging the APC and Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

The debate over opposition unity has become one of the defining issues in Nigeria’s political landscape as major opposition politicians pursue different political strategies ahead of the election.

The G100 Opposition Coalition, led by former APC chieftain Salihu Lukman, has been pushing for opposition parties and political actors to work together and produce a common candidate capable of challenging the ruling party.

The coalition initiative is built around the argument that the opposition could improve its chances of defeating Tinubu by pooling its political structures, regional support bases and voters behind a single presidential candidate.

However, attempts to achieve such unity have faced significant challenges.

The major obstacle has been the presidential ambitions of leading opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, as well as disagreements over which political platform should provide the structure for a possible coalition.

Atiku is operating under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), while Obi has emerged as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

Kwankwaso is expected to serve as Obi’s running mate on the NDC ticket, creating a political arrangement that has further complicated the search for a single opposition candidate.

The development has effectively created competing opposition camps ahead of the 2027 election, with Atiku and Obi pursuing separate presidential platforms while coalition advocates continue efforts to bring the different blocs together.

The current situation has revived memories of the 2023 presidential election, when the opposition vote was divided among several major candidates.

Tinubu won the 2023 election with 8,794,726 votes, while Atiku received 6,984,520 votes and Obi polled 6,101,533 votes. Kwankwaso also secured more than one million votes.

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The figures have frequently been used by advocates of opposition unity to argue that a united opposition could pose a stronger challenge to the APC.

However, the combined votes of opposition candidates cannot automatically be treated as a prediction of what would happen if they contested the next election on a single ticket.

Voting patterns can change significantly between elections, while factors such as geographical distribution, voter turnout, party structures, campaign organisation and candidate popularity can determine the outcome.

Nigeria’s presidential election also requires a candidate to secure the highest number of votes while meeting the constitutional requirement for a spread of support across the states.

Nevertheless, the 2023 result remains a major reference point in the debate over whether the opposition should unite behind one candidate.

Obi attracted significant support in parts of southern Nigeria and among younger and urban voters, while Atiku maintained considerable support across several northern states.

Kwankwaso, meanwhile, demonstrated substantial strength in Kano and parts of the North-West.

Supporters of an opposition coalition believe combining these different voter bases could create a formidable national political force.

But the difficulty lies in determining which candidate would lead such an alliance and how the different political interests would be accommodated.

The G100 initiative has attempted to address this problem by encouraging opposition politicians to negotiate rather than allowing individual presidential ambitions to derail the possibility of a common front.

The process, however, remains complicated by the fact that Atiku and Obi already have established political structures and presidential tickets.

The ADC has also maintained that Atiku has the capacity to defeat Tinubu, with or without a broader coalition, although the party has expressed support for cooperation among opposition forces.

This position differs from the argument advanced by Okonkwo, who insists that the opposition’s best chance lies in presenting a united front.

His comments are particularly notable because of his political history with Obi.

Okonkwo was previously associated with Obi during his Labour Party presidential campaign but later joined Atiku’s political camp and became a spokesperson for the former vice-president’s presidential campaign.

His latest remarks therefore represent a significant criticism of his former political ally as the 2027 contest begins to take shape.

Okonkwo has also previously questioned Obi’s capacity to lead Nigeria and tackle the country’s economic and developmental challenges.

His latest intervention places the issue of opposition unity at the centre of his argument, rather than focusing solely on the individual strengths of the presidential contenders.

The political calculations surrounding the 2027 election have become increasingly complicated as the major opposition camps attempt to determine whether they can work together or must compete separately.

For the APC and Tinubu, a divided opposition could potentially make the presidential contest less difficult by preventing a single challenger from consolidating votes from different regions and political constituencies.

For opposition parties, the challenge is to determine whether their combined strength would be greater under a single candidate than under separate presidential campaigns.

The question is particularly important for Obi and Atiku, whose supporters have continued to debate which of the two politicians has the stronger national appeal and greater capacity to challenge Tinubu.

The emergence of the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket has added another layer to that debate.

While supporters believe the combination could strengthen Obi’s reach into northern Nigeria, critics such as Okonkwo argue that it would not be enough to defeat the incumbent without a broader alliance.

The G100 coalition is therefore faced with the difficult task of persuading the different opposition camps to put aside competing presidential ambitions and agree on a strategy that can command nationwide support.

Whether that happens before the 2027 election remains uncertain.

For now, Atiku and Obi remain on separate political platforms, while Tinubu continues to prepare for his re-election campaign.

Okonkwo’s “eat Obi like biscuits” remark has added a colourful dimension to the increasingly intense political debate, but beneath the phrase lies a much bigger question confronting Nigeria’s opposition: whether its leading political forces can unite behind one candidate or risk dividing their support in another presidential contest.

As political negotiations continue, the eventual structure of the opposition and the choice of presidential candidates could play a major role in determining the shape of the 2027 presidential election.

2027: Tinubu’ll ‘eat Obi like biscuits’ without coalition — Okonkwo