With both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) zoning their 2027 presidential tickets to the South, a political science professor, Jideofor Adibe, has cautioned the Labour Party’s presidential hopeful, Peter Obi, to tread carefully in his dealings with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition, which has yet to declare its zoning.
Adibe, speaking on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, said Obi must be “extremely suspicious” of moves within the coalition, where former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from northern Nigeria has signalled interest in contesting the presidency.
He explained that Atiku’s ambition could complicate the chances of southerners within the ADC bloc, including Obi and former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, who are also eyeing the 2027 race.
“I wouldn’t want to advise Peter Obi; he has his own advisors. At the end, he has to make his own decisions, but if I were him, I would be extremely suspicious,” Adibe said.
The professor described Obi as a strategic thinker who rarely acts without a backup plan but emphasised that the 2027 race would require vigilance and calculated moves to avoid setbacks.
“It’s up to him to know what his own political strategists are telling him and what these moves are, but I believe that once any announcement is made, they create scenarios,” Adibe added, noting that the PDP’s zoning decision would reveal more in the coming months.
He likened the unfolding political manoeuvres to a chess match, stressing that the dynamics remain unpredictable.
“In the end, like any chess game, it may work and it may not, but we don’t know, and in all this, it is a tug of war,” he said.
