Nigeria’s Peter Obi to contest 2027 election, opposition coalition in jeopardy

Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has confirmed that he will run in Nigeria’s 2027 election while rejecting a joint ticket with fellow ADA-alliance member Atiku Abubakar, according to a press release on Monday. 

Obi participated in a livestream on X Sunday night where he talked about the potential of running as Abubakar’s Vice President in 2027:

 “I won’t say I must have the ticket. That’s not leadership. You must work with others, consult widely, and put Nigeria first,” Obi said. 

The following day, several Nigerian media reported that a statement had been released by Obi’s spokesman, Ibrahim Umar, who dismissed the possibility of a joint ticket between Obi and former Vice President Abubakar.

Obi and Abubakar are two of the most high-profile politicians to join the new All Democratic Alliance party (ADA). The coalition brings together some of the largest opposition parties in Nigeria, including the Labour Party and the People’s Democratic Party, to unite the opposition vote and beat President Tinubu in the 2027 general election.

 However, since its inception, the ADA has been marred by internal disagreement, with reports in May that official meetings had been cancelled because coalition partners couldn’t decide whether to create a new party or join under an existing party. 

Obi’s refusal to serve as deputy to Abubakar comes as no surprise to Dr. Abdul-Wasi Moshood, Head of the Department of Political Science at Lagos State University:

”For somebody like that to now say okay, and be deputy to another person. It will be practically impossible”, Moshood said in an interview with Africanews.

The primary reason that opposition politicians created the ADA was to improve their chances of becoming President, according to Moshood, so If there is no agreement on one candidate, the future of the alliance looks uncertain.

“Simply put, they are all in coalition just to be able to access power in 2027, he said "We have not seen in any meaningful light that those who are coming together really want to stand in opposition.