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

Atiku, X user clash over Almajiri crisis, street begging

Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has clashed with an X user, Oluwa Bunmi, over the persistent Almajiri crisis and the continued presence of children involved in street begging in northern Nigeria.

The exchange followed a post by Bunmi on Friday in which the X user questioned Atiku’s record on the issue, particularly during his eight-year tenure as Vice President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007.

Bunmi tagged Atiku in a post featuring children carrying begging bowls and asked whether the former vice president had ever taken steps to address the situation.

“Have you ever addressed this, sir? You were VP for 8 years, these innocent children are in your region and you couldn’t do anything to stop this calamity,” Bunmi wrote.

Responding, Atiku acknowledged the seriousness of the problem but defended his record on education and interventions for vulnerable children, pointing to initiatives associated with the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, Adamawa State.

“I understand your concern, @Oluwabunmi63697. The sight of children begging on our streets should trouble every Nigerian,” Atiku said.

The former vice president explained that he established AUN in Yola as part of his effort to contribute to education and development in the North-East.

According to Atiku, the decision to locate the institution in Yola was deliberate because he wanted to expand access to quality education in a region he believed required greater investment.

“If profit had been my primary motivation, I could easily have located the university in Abuja or Lagos, where the commercial advantages would have been greater,” he said.

“I chose Yola because I wanted to invest in my people, create opportunities, and bring world-class education closer to a region that had long needed greater access and development.”

Atiku also rejected suggestions that AUN was established as a personal or family asset.

He said he had signed a deed of gift transferring ownership of the institution to the community.

“And as I have publicly stated before, this university is not my personal property or that of my family,” he said.

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“I have already signed a deed of gift transferring it to the community. AUN belongs to the community it was established to serve.”

Atiku further cited AUN’s Feed and Read programme, which he said was created to provide vulnerable Almajiri children with food while helping them acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills.

“Beyond its classrooms, AUN created the Feed and Read programme, providing vulnerable Almajiri children with daily meals while teaching them literacy and numeracy,” he said.

The programme has been documented by AUN as an initiative aimed at supporting children who are outside the formal education system.

The university has previously reported graduating cohorts of children from the programme, with the initiative designed to provide basic education and help beneficiaries transition into formal schooling.

Atiku also highlighted AUN’s Technology-Enhanced Learning for All (TELA) initiative, saying it provided educational support to more than 20,000 internally displaced children through educational radio programmes.

The programme was developed to reach children affected by displacement and insecurity, particularly those who had been unable to access conventional classrooms.

Atiku said AUN’s interventions were part of his broader belief that education should be used to create opportunities for children facing difficult circumstances.

He also referred to the university’s response to the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, saying AUN awarded scholarships to some of the young women who escaped captivity.

“Following the Chibok tragedy in 2014, seven years after I left office, AUN awarded scholarships to young women who had escaped Boko Haram, giving them an opportunity to rebuild their lives through education,” Atiku said.

The former vice president stressed that his commitment to education extended beyond his time in public office.

“My conviction remains simple: every child belongs in a classroom, not on the street with a begging bowl,” he said.

“Whether in government or outside it, I have always sought to turn that conviction into practical action.”

The exchange has renewed public attention on the Almajiri system, a traditional Islamic education arrangement in northern Nigeria under which children may leave their homes to study Islamic teachings under Mallams.

The Almajiri system itself is not synonymous with street begging. However, concerns have persisted over the welfare and educational conditions of some children enrolled in the system, particularly those who lack adequate food, shelter, healthcare or access to formal education.

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Some children involved in the system are seen begging on streets and in public places, making the issue a major component of Nigeria’s wider out-of-school children crisis.

The problem has remained particularly pronounced in parts of northern Nigeria, where poverty, insecurity, limited access to schools and other socioeconomic challenges have contributed to difficulties in ensuring that children remain in education.

The Federal Government has attempted to address the challenge through the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children’s Education (NCAOOSCE).

The commission is responsible for coordinating policies and programmes aimed at improving access to education for Almajiri and other out-of-school children, including efforts to integrate Qur’anic education with basic and formal education.

The commission has also reported establishing learning centres and undertaking community mobilisation efforts aimed at encouraging vulnerable children to return to education.

However, the scale of Nigeria’s out-of-school children problem means that government interventions continue to face significant challenges.

The issue has also increasingly become part of political debates ahead of elections, with politicians from northern Nigeria regularly facing questions about what their administrations have done to reduce child begging and improve access to education.

Atiku’s latest response did not provide a detailed breakdown of specific federal government policies implemented during his tenure as vice president to eliminate street begging among Almajiri children.

Instead, he pointed to education initiatives associated with AUN and interventions he has supported outside government.

That distinction has become central to the debate triggered by Bunmi’s post, with the X user focusing on Atiku’s record while in government and Atiku responding by highlighting his broader educational contributions.

The exchange also reflects the difficulty of separating the responsibilities of individual political leaders from the wider structural causes of the Almajiri and street-begging crisis.

Issues such as poverty, parental displacement, limited school infrastructure, insecurity and inadequate social protection have all contributed to the persistence of vulnerable children outside formal education.

As the country moves towards the 2027 general election, education and child welfare are expected to remain important issues in political campaigns, particularly in northern states.

Atiku, who is seeking the presidency under the ADC, is likely to face further scrutiny over his record in public office and his proposals for addressing poverty, education and youth development.

For now, his response to the X user has shifted the conversation from a direct question about his eight years as vice president to his wider record and continuing involvement in education and support for vulnerable children.

The debate has also placed the plight of children seen begging on Nigerian streets back in the public spotlight, highlighting the need for sustained policies that address both access to education and the underlying socioeconomic conditions driving children into vulnerable situations.

Atiku, X user clash over Almajiri crisis, street begging

Gombe 2027: Pantami dominates online poll with 83.91% of 58,358 votes

Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has recorded a commanding lead in two separate online polls ahead of the 2027 Gombe State governorship election, attracting more than three-quarters of the votes in both exercises.

The latest poll, conducted by Gombawa, a platform focused on developments in Gombe State, showed Pantami securing 48,968 votes out of 58,358 votes cast, representing 83.91 per cent of the total.

The result, recorded as of 6:32 a.m. on Monday, August 31, 2026, placed the former minister far ahead of former Deputy Governor Jamilu Isiyaku Gwamna, who polled 7,213 votes, representing 12.36 per cent.

Bala Bello Tinka received 2,177 votes, representing 3.73 per cent of the total votes recorded in the poll.

Pantami’s 48,968 votes were more than four times the combined 9,390 votes received by Gwamna and Tinka.

The Gombawa result came days after another online poll on the Gombe 2027 governorship race conducted by journalist Mustapha Musa Kaita of TRT Afrika.

In the August 24 poll, Pantami received 521 of the 676 responses, representing 77.07 per cent.

Gwamna polled 92 votes, representing 13.61 per cent, while 63 responses, or 9.32 per cent, were recorded as invalid.

The results of the two online exercises have generated renewed attention around Pantami’s 2027 Gombe governorship ambition, particularly as political parties and candidates intensify preparations for the election.

However, the poll results should not be interpreted as a scientific prediction of the outcome of the election.

Both exercises were conducted online, meaning participation was voluntary and largely limited to people who had access to the platforms and chose to participate. The results therefore reflect the preferences of participants in the respective polls rather than the voting intentions of all registered voters in Gombe State.

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Despite the limitation, Pantami’s strong performance in the two exercises provides his supporters with a notable indication of his popularity among the online audiences reached by the polls.

The development also comes against the backdrop of major political realignments in Gombe State ahead of the 2027 election.

Pantami, who previously belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC), is now the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for the 2027 election.

He emerged as the PDP candidate after securing the party’s ticket in May 2026.

His emergence followed a political dispute within the APC over the process for selecting its governorship candidate in the state.

Pantami had rejected the APC consensus arrangement that produced former Deputy Governor Jamilu Gwamna as the party’s preferred candidate, arguing that the process did not meet the requirements for a valid consensus.

He subsequently left the APC and joined the PDP, where he secured the opposition party’s governorship ticket.

The former minister later received the PDP’s Certificate of Return, formally confirming him as the party’s candidate for the 2027 Gombe governorship election.

Pantami’s political profile has been strengthened by his previous experience in federal government, having served as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

His supporters have repeatedly highlighted his record in public service, particularly his role in Nigeria’s digital economy drive, as one of the factors behind his growing political profile in Gombe.

Pantami has also said concerns about poverty and the need for more inclusive development influenced his decision to seek the governorship of the state.

His campaign will, however, have to translate his national profile and reported online popularity into a strong grassroots political structure across Gombe.

The eventual election is expected to be influenced by several factors, including party structures, grassroots mobilisation, campaign organisation, political alliances, voter registration, geographical spread of support and voter turnout.

The strength of each candidate’s organisation across Gombe’s three senatorial districts is also expected to play a significant role as the election approaches.

For Pantami, one of the major tests will be whether the support reflected in online polls can be converted into sustained support among voters who may not participate in social-media or internet-based surveys.

The size of an online poll should also not automatically be confused with representativeness. Although the Gombawa exercise attracted more than 58,000 votes, the figure does not by itself establish that the participants accurately represent the wider Gombe electorate.

A scientific opinion poll normally uses a defined sampling methodology designed to reflect the characteristics of the population being studied.

The latest online results should therefore be regarded as a measure of online voter sentiment rather than an authoritative forecast of the 2027 election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the Gombe State governorship election for March 6, 2027, leaving several months for political developments, alliances and voter preferences to change before election day.

The period leading to the election is therefore expected to witness increased campaign activities, political defections, grassroots mobilisation and debates over the records and programmes of the various candidates.

The contest between the major political parties could also become increasingly competitive as candidates seek to establish structures across the state.

For now, Pantami’s performance in the two online polls has given his campaign a significant talking point, particularly after recording 83.91 per cent of 58,358 votes in the latest exercise.

Whether that online momentum can translate into broader grassroots support and ultimately votes at the ballot box, however, will only become clearer as the Gombe 2027 governorship election draws closer.

Gombe 2027: Pantami dominates online poll with 83.91% of 58,358 votes