Post by Ibadan Watch (@Ibadanwatch)

Primate Ayodele Says Obi, Kwankwaso’s 2027 Bid Faces Uphill Battle.

The founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has predicted that the 2027 presidential bid of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) ticket comprising Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso will fail to gain significant momentum, arguing that the party made a strategic mistake by contesting the election independently instead of joining a broader opposition coalition.

Speaking in a video shared on X, Ayodele said the NDC would have been better positioned if it had aligned with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to present a united opposition front against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He maintained that running separately had weakened the party's electoral prospects ahead of the next general election.

According to the cleric, opposition parties seeking to unseat an incumbent government must avoid fragmentation, insisting that divided political platforms only split votes and reduce their chances of success. He argued that a coalition would have offered a stronger challenge in the presidential race.

"You see the NDC party in Nigeria, assuming you can listen. Instead of you going as a solo party, you would have merged with the ADC and formed a coalition," Ayodele said, adding that the NDC was no longer a major factor in the political calculations for the 2027 election.

He further declared that the independent bid of Obi and Kwankwaso would not deliver victory, saying, "NDC is not in the calculation. They call it OK but I'm not seeing anything okay. I do not see 'OK' (Obi and Kwankwaso) going anywhere in the 2027 Presidential election."

Obi and Kwankwaso defected from the ADC to the NDC in May, citing unresolved internal disputes and lingering legal battles within the ADC as reasons for seeking a new political platform.

Their move reshaped the opposition landscape, with the NDC adopting the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket while the ADC eventually nominated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate.

The former Anambra State governor had previously served as Atiku's running mate in the 2019 presidential election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The pair later parted ways after Obi left the PDP for the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 election, where President Bola Tinubu of the APC emerged victorious.

Before the split, Obi, Atiku and several opposition leaders had attempted to build a broad coalition through the ADC to challenge President Tinubu in 2027. However, disagreements among key stakeholders led to the collapse of the alliance, prompting Obi and Kwankwaso to establish their campaign on the NDC platform.

Ayodele maintained that the collapse of opposition unity had significantly diminished the NDC's chances, insisting that only a united opposition could effectively challenge the ruling party in the 2027 presidential election.

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