By Olawale Lamina
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC has thrown his weight behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu re-election in 2027 by assuring him of Victor. This is taking place just as the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Dr. Peter Obi formally dumped his platform for the African Democratic Congress , ADC, ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The former Governor of Anambra State officially made his defection to the ADC public on Wednesday at Nike Lake Resort in Enugu, even as he urged unity among opposition, adding that there is the need to come together under a broad national coalition to “rescue Nigeria from poverty, disunity and democratic decline.”
The recently formed opposition ADC, under the leadership of former Senate President David Mark as national chairman and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary, poses an outlook of a formidable opposition party, prepared to wrest power from the ruling party in the February 2027 presidential poll.
But there are major gladiators in the coalition who are prepared to clinch the party’s ticket ahead of 2027. Apart from Peter Obi, who just indicated his interest and officially joined the ADC, former Vice President Atiku Abubarkar had been ahead of others in expressing his interest in the top job. Similarly,, the former governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi equally presented himself as most experienced, latching on to his political trajectories as one time speaker of the state house of assembly for eight years, apart from being a former governor for same length of time and more recently, as the former Minister of Transportation under the Buhari-led administration.
Political pundits are of the view that, unless there is a give and take arrangement in the ADC fold, the much anticipated change of power in their direction may be elusive, because of conflict of interests among notable politicians who are looking for the same opportunity.
In the midst of ongoing political manuovres, the ruling APC has continued to express groundswell support for president Bola Tinubu, right from his base in the South West, even as stakeholders across political divides under the ruling party also look set to give their maximum support for the re-election bid of the President come 2027.
President Tinubu, from all indications did not just garnered the support of his immediate loyal party members, more pronounced is the gale of defection among certain governors from the geopolitical zones, whose influence is expected to cascade into effective grassroots mobilizations in their homestead, thereby giving electoral advantage to the incumbent president.
The odds against the ruling APC under Tinubu’s presidency can be traceable to the present socioeconomic conditions of common men who are typically active electorate. The current controversy over tax reforms, inflation rate and general living conditions of majority of Nigerians are sure to play a major role in the choice making of the Nigerian voters come 2027, unless the gains of economic reforms start to manifestly address the living standards of ordinary Nigerians who are the worst hit in the face of multilevel socio-economic conditions.
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