2027: Pressure From Tinubu Forced Obi, Kwankwaso To Forge Alliance — Dele Momodu 

By Olumuyiwa Olumuyiwa

Veteran journalist and Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, has stated that the Labour Party (LP) 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi and former governor of Kano, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, decided to join forces together based on their past performances at the poll in the last election season.

Momodu, who is also a chieftain  of the African Democratic Congress, noted that the two politicians hastily reacted to pressure from President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) without putting some factors into consideration.

The veteran journalist spoke on Wednesday while featuring on an interview on Channels Television.

He argued that there has been a shift in the political dynamics that fetched the two political actors the amount of votes they had in 2023, stressing that there’s no guarantee that they will replicate the feat in 2027.

“Tinubu forced all of them together. And that is why they all moved in one direction. Which would have been beautiful, because it would have been like a two-party race,” Momodu said.

He queried, “Are you saying that Tinubu will retain all the 8 million plus people that voted for him last time? How are you sure… What is the guarantee that Obi and Kwankwaso are the only people who will retain all those who voted for them last time? The situation has changed,” he queried.

Momodu added that if Tinubu allows a free and fair election, “he might not even get 3 million votes.”

He buttressed his stance that each election season is strikingly different from the previous one by saying that the 2019 alliance between Atiku Abubakar and Obi did not produce victory, while their separate contests in 2023 also failed to unseat the ruling party.

The Ovation publisher welcomed those willing to join but rejected any form of blackmail or the idea that victory depends on a single individual.

“Those who want to join should join. Those who do not want to join, you cannot succumb to blackmail. That only one man can make us win,” he declared.

Momodu’s remark was sparked by the recent defection of Obi and Kwankwaso from the ADC to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

The duo had left their former parties of LP and  New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) respectively to join forces with ADC founded to be a coalition movement with the goal of wresting the reins of power from Tinubu in 2027.

But months their defections to the ADC, they left the party for NDC citing internal crisis and series of legal disputes the coalition movement is battling.