Igbo Group Rejects Tinubu Endorsement, Pledges Grassroots Support for Peter Obi in 2027

Igbo Group Rejects Tinubu Endorsement, Pledges Grassroots Support for Peter Obi in 2027

A coalition of South-East groups says the region has been excluded from executive power since 1960 and insists it is time for an Igbo presidency.

A coalition of South-East socio-political groups has formally rejected calls for Ndigbo to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027, declaring instead that the region will rally behind Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). The coalition, comprising the South East Village Boys (SEVB) , South East Electricity Consumers Association (SEECA), and South East Equity Group (SEEG), announced its position at a strategic meeting in Enugu. Rev. Okechukwu Obioha, the group’s coordinator and leader of Njiko Igbo Nigeria, said the decision was based on a thorough evaluation of track records, equity, and the need for effective leadership.

Obioha stated that justice and fairness demand that the South East produce the President of Nigeria, noting that the region has been excluded from executive power since the nation’s independence in 1960. “The South East has never had the executive powers of this country to lead this country, either as a Prime Minister or as a President. So we feel that it is our turn,” Obioha said. He clarified that the coalition seeks only a single four-year term to restore balance to the country’s power-sharing arrangement before power rotates back to the North, emphasizing that this is not a quest for permanent domination but a call for equity and national healing.

Obioha described the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government as a “misfortune” to Nigerians since 2015. He accused the administration of failing to resolve insecurity and presiding over an economy he called “Kwashiorkor-ridden,” a term he used to describe the severe economic malnutrition afflicting the nation. “APC coming into our political space as a political party from 2015 is a misfortune. Before they came in, they intimidated former President Goodluck Jonathan to leave office,” he said. The group also criticised Southeast governors who have migrated to the APC, questioning their decision to join what Obioha described as a “leprosy-ridden political party” that has allegedly weakened the nation’s institutions and deepened the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.

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The Southeast Village Boys Movement, which includes both men and women across the region and diaspora, was created to counter the “City Boys Movement,” a pro-Tinubu campaign group that has been actively trying to buy support from the Southeast through what critics describe as an elite network of socialites. Obioha explained: “By ‘boys,’ we mean the strength and energy that exists in a man or a boy. So it does include both male and female… if you are ready and poised for a change, for the new Nigeria.” The movement is part of a broader grassroots mobilisation strategy, and a coalition of registered voters in the South-East has also launched the Village Boys Movement to register and mobilise one million new voters ahead of the 2027 election, signalling a determined push to translate discontent into electoral power.

Obioha praised Peter Obi for proposing a realistic power sector strategy centred on generating, transmitting, and distributing 10,000 megawatts of electricity to revive the nation’s industrial base, create jobs, and end the perennial blackouts that have crippled small businesses across the country. “Peter Obi has promised 10,000 megawatts of electricity. Let us get new wines. APC people are afraid of Peter Obi because they are squanderers,” Obioha said, contrasting Obi’s detailed policy proposals with what he described as the APC’s record of unfulfilled promises and wasteful spending.

The coalition’s stance is a direct response to movements actively trying to persuade the Igbo to support President Tinubu. The Southeast chapter of the Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN) has been lobbying Igbo leaders to persuade Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2027 race and back Tinubu, arguing that supporting Tinubu’s second term could create a “political debt” that might help the Southeast secure the presidency in the future. The group has said it will approach Ohanaeze Ndigbo leaders and elder statesmen including Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe to lead a delegation to Obi, but this strategy has been met with firm resistance from grassroots groups who insist that the time for promises is over and the time for actual power is now.

The Igbo Community Association (ICA) in the Federal Capital Territory has also rejected claims by some Southeast political leaders that the region has reached a consensus to support President Tinubu. The association singled out Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, Minister of Works David Umahi, and Senate Deputy Chief Whip Onyekachi Nwebonyi, insisting that none of them speaks for the Igbo. “The assertion that President Tinubu will sweep all five South-East states in 2027 is completely detached from the prevailing conditions on the ground,” said ICA President-General Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe, pointing to widespread dissatisfaction with the current administration’s handling of security, the economy, and infrastructure.

Similarly, the South East chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the endorsement of President Tinubu by three Igbo governors during an APC rally in Abakaliki. The party described the endorsement as “entirely personal, irresponsible, self-serving and disconnected from the harsh realities confronting millions of Nigerians.” “Ndigbo cannot endorse failure, and Nigerians cannot reward suffering with another term in office,” said ADC National Vice Chairman (South East), Sir Bon Unachukwu, adding that the region’s political future must be determined by the will of the people, not by a handful of self-interested politicians.