Kenneth Okonkwo declares Peter Obi cannot defeat Tinubu in 2027, backing a northern candidate to break Nigeria’s entrenched power structure and win
Peter Obi cannot defeat Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election without northern political backing, Kenneth Okonkwo has declared.
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The actor-turned-politician and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain said Obi’s path to victory was blocked by Nigeria’s entrenched political establishment.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme aired on Tuesday night, Okonkwo stated bluntly that “Peter Obi won the election in 2023, and they stole it from us.”
He said the only realistic way to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 would be to support a northern heavyweight with institutional muscle.
“If you bring somebody from the Southeast, even if he wins, they will steal it from him,” Okonkwo stated.
The former spokesperson for Obi’s 2023 campaign, Okonkwo parted ways with the Labour Party in 2024 due to internal disagreements and has since thrown his weight behind the ADC.
He now believes the best strategy to defeat Tinubu lies in rallying behind an establishment-backed northern politician.
“My strategy this time around is that I am going to support a northerner in 2027,” he declared. “If the whole North is willing to support Atiku, why not? Or Tambuwal? Or El-Rufai?”
According to him, running a fresh Southern candidate against Tinubu would merely split the opposition and secure the president’s re-election.
“Anybody telling you to bring a fresh Southerner to compete against Tinubu, a Southerner, is trying to tell you to zone the ticket to Tinubu,” he argued.
Peter Obi cannot defeat the establishment, he stressed, without the political leverage needed to protect the electoral outcome.
Okonkwo also criticised what he described as misplaced assumptions around zoning and fairness in Nigeria’s power rotation.
“Do you know the Southwest has never contested an election against an incumbent?” he asked.
“Because they know that in Nigeria, if you don’t have the establishment supporting you, even if you win, they will steal it from you.”
His remarks come at a time of growing political realignment. On July 2, 2025, key opposition figures — including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Nasir El-Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, David Mark, and Rauf Aregbesola — agreed to adopt the ADC as a common platform to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
Okonkwo’s position appears to underscore a deeper strategy within the opposition: consolidate under one party, select a viable candidate with both regional reach and establishment influence, and avoid a repeat of the fragmented 2023 approach.
However, critics may interpret Okonkwo’s bluntness as defeatist or dismissive of the Southeast’s democratic aspirations.
Still, his message is clear: without consensus and strategic unity, the opposition risks another loss.
“The Peter Obi you see today is an honourable man, but he cannot take on the establishment alone and win. Nigeria is not structured that way,” Okonkwo said.
His interview has sparked heated debate online, with supporters and critics weighing in on his assertion that Peter Obi cannot defeat Tinubu without northern political muscle.
As the 2027 election cycle gradually takes shape, Okonkwo’s remarks highlight the harsh realities facing non-establishment candidates in a political system long shaped by elite consensus and regional alliances.
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Whether or not the opposition coalition will rally behind a single, strategically chosen candidate — North or South — may ultimately determine the outcome.
