Obasanjo Brokered Obi-Kwankwaso Ticket, Remains Principal Sponsor – Akin Osuntokun

A former Political Adviser to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Akin Osuntokun, has revealed that the former Nigerian leader personally brokered the political alliance between Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso and remains the principal force behind their joint presidential ticket for the 2027 election. The disclosure has sent shockwaves through Nigeria’s political landscape, offering a rare glimpse into the backroom negotiations shaping the opposition’s challenge to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Osuntokun made the revelation during an interview on Arise Television on Sunday while firmly dismissing suggestions that Obasanjo was secretly working for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid. He argued that such claims were inconsistent with the former president’s political actions, insisting that Obasanjo had instead played a leading role in bringing Obi and Kwankwaso together as running mates under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket.

“If you can say that Obasanjo is supporting any ticket, it is the Peter Obi–Kwankwaso ticket. As a matter of fact, he is the principal sponsor of that ticket,” Osuntokun declared during the interview. He maintained that allegations linking Obasanjo with Tinubu’s political camp lacked logic, especially considering the former president’s alleged involvement in putting the opposition ticket together. “So how do you then suggest that he is secretly working for Tinubu? It does not make sense to me. I think that claim is absolute bunkum. The evidence is in the public domain. Obasanjo is playing a major role in supporting the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket. He was the one who brought the two men together,” he added. When pressed to confirm whether Obasanjo actually brokered the ticket, Osuntokun stood firmly by his remarks. “Yes, of course. That’s what I said. He brokered the ticket between Obi and Kwankwaso. Both of them are quite close to him. It is a ticket that makes sense and has the potential to make a significant impact in the 2027 election. I can tell you for free that he was the one who brought the ticket together,” Osuntokun stated.

The former adviser also revealed that discussions for an Obi-Kwankwaso alliance could have materialized much earlier, saying talks had taken place several years before the current arrangement. “Kwankwaso could have teamed up with Obi four years ago. I remember him saying that if they had agreed then, they would probably have had an arrangement in which they would each spend one term in office, and Kwankwaso would now have been the beneficiary,” he said. He stressed that Obasanjo’s role in the alliance was already public knowledge and questioned why anyone would conclude that the former president was supporting Tinubu simply because the president visited him in 2023. Beyond the political alliance, Osuntokun also rejected claims that former President Obasanjo manipulated the 2003 elections to undermine Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors in the South-West. He described conspiracy theories surrounding that election as unfounded, insisting there were logical reasons why the AD governors lost. “I was very active during that period and I can say categorically that nothing of that sort happened. The election in which the AD governors lost can be explained state by state,” he said.

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Fresh details have emerged over the political arrangement underpinning the NDC presidential ticket, with the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, revealing that he and the presidential candidate, Peter Obi, signed a written agreement committing the former Anambra State governor to serve only a single four-year term if elected in 2027. The disclosure places the issue of power rotation at the centre of the unfolding 2027 political contest, with Kwankwaso presenting the agreement as part of a broader understanding designed to preserve national balance and sustain cooperation within the party beyond the next election cycle. Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, Kwankwaso said the understanding was not merely verbal but documented through formal agreements reached by both leaders. According to him, the arrangement provides that if the NDC wins the 2027 presidential election, Obi would complete one four-year tenure between 2027 and 2031, after which the presidency would return to Northern Nigeria. “We have agreed to formalise it in writing. We have executed one document for the party and another between the two of us,” Kwankwaso stated.

Responding to questions on whether Obi’s commitment to a single term could be relied upon, Kwankwaso expressed confidence that the former governor would abide by the agreement. “I personally believe him. Based on what I know about him, I don’t think he will change his mind when the time comes. We are all gentlemen, and we have accepted to put it on paper,” he said. He explained that both agreements were designed to guide the partnership throughout the life of a potential administration while laying the foundation for an orderly political transition at the end of the proposed four-year tenure. “The agreement is that after four years, we will continue to work together as a party, as friends and brothers, so that after our four-year term, from 2027 to 2031, power returns to the North. That is the consensus,” he said. Kwankwaso also explained the circumstances that informed his decision to accept the vice-presidential nomination despite previously pursuing the presidency, saying the decision was anchored on what both leaders considered the principles of fairness, equity and national inclusion. According to him, the two politicians reached a consensus that the South should produce the president for one term before the office rotates back to the North, describing the arrangement as one intended to reinforce national cohesion and political stability.

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The formal power-sharing arrangement between Obi and Kwankwaso aligns with the broader zoning framework already adopted by the NDC at its maiden National Convention held in Abuja in May 2026. At that convention, delegates overwhelmingly endorsed a power-rotation formula designed to promote national unity and balance regional interests. Under the resolution, the NDC declared that its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election must emerge from Southern Nigeria and, if elected, serve only one term ending in 2031. After that, the party’s presidential ticket will rotate to Northern Nigeria for the next electoral cycle. The motion was moved by Afam Victor Ogene, who represents Ogbaru Federal Constituency in Anambra State, and was overwhelmingly endorsed by party delegates. Announcing the resolution, the National Chairman of the party, Moses Cleopas, said the arrangement was aimed at promoting equity, inclusiveness and stability within the growing opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections. He explained that under the agreement reached by party stakeholders, the South would produce the party’s presidential candidate in 2027 for only one term of four years, after which the ticket would automatically rotate to Northern Nigeria in 2031. “It will be the turn of the North in 2031,” Cleopas declared while addressing delegates at the convention.

Addressing delegates at the convention, Obi described the NDC as a platform for “national liberation”, insisting Nigerians would resist every attempt to undermine democracy and credible elections. The former presidential candidate warned against attempts to entrench one-party dominance in the country. “We cannot have one party in Nigeria. Nigeria must have democracy. Those who think there will be no free and fair elections in 2027 should rethink because Nigerians will insist on credible elections,” he declared. Obi also painted a grim picture of the nation’s socio-economic situation, claiming that over 140 million Nigerians were living in multidimensional poverty while millions of youths remained unemployed or underemployed. “Nigeria is not poor. Nigeria was looted into poverty, and we are coming to reverse that situation,” he added. Kwankwaso, while endorsing the zoning arrangement at the convention, described it as a necessary step toward fairness, equity and national healing. “It is therefore with great sense of unity and solidarity that as a loyal party member, I support the decision to zone the presidential ticket of the NDC to the South so that it allows the region to complete its turn in producing national leadership,” he stated. He expressed optimism that the NDC would emerge as a platform for national renewal, anchored on inclusive leadership devoid of ethnic and religious bias. “This party shall also ensure to change the way things are done today by prioritising leadership without ethnic jingoism and religious favouritism,” he added.

The emergence of the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket has reshaped political calculations ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Political observers believe the alliance combines Obi’s strong support among young voters, professionals and urban residents with Kwankwaso’s influence through the Kwankwasiyya Movement in Kano and parts of northern Nigeria. Supporters of the ticket argue that the partnership gives the NDC a broader national appeal by bringing together a South-East Christian and a North-West Muslim, while also reducing the fragmentation of opposition votes. The Nigeria Democratic Congress and the Obidient Movement have dismissed former National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje’s claim that the presidential ticket lacks the political legacy to win the 2027 election. Abdulmumin Abdulsalam, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the NDC, dismissed Ganduje’s comments as inconsequential, saying the former APC chairman had lost political relevance in Kano. He argued that Obi’s electoral performance in the 2023 presidential election demonstrated his national appeal and predicted that the former Anambra governor would attract even more votes in 2027.

However, analysts have also pointed to major challenges facing the alliance, including the organisational strength of the ruling APC, the political influence of the African Democratic Congress, and questions over whether the combined support bases of both candidates will translate into electoral victory in 2027. The APC has dismissed the NDC’s zoning arrangement as no threat to Tinubu’s second-term ambition, insisting that the ruling party remained firmly in control of the nation’s political structure ahead of the 2027 polls. APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, argued that the real political battle ahead of 2027 was not between the APC and the NDC, but among opposition parties themselves.

Akin Osuntokun, who served as Political Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007, is a Nigerian political scientist, strategist, researcher, administrator, journalist and writer with experience in media advocacy, policy research and implementation and political analysis. He was later appointed Director of the Presidential Campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2011 general elections. In December 2022, he was announced by the Nigerian Labour Party as the Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council to lead the 2023 presidential election campaign of Peter Obi. Osuntokun has previously spoken about the fragmentation within Nigeria’s opposition parties, warning that the lack of a united coalition among key figures such as Obi, Kwankwaso and Atiku Abubakar is giving the ruling APC a clear advantage ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Obasanjo Brokered Obi-Kwankwaso Ticket, Remains Principal Sponsor – Akin Osuntokun