Uncertainty has continued to trail the political platform the Labour Party (LP) former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will contest on in the 2027 election.
Despite being part of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition, planning to unseat President Bola Tinubu, Peter Obi’s hope of securing the party’s presidential ticket is becoming a mirage as party bigwigs seem to be zeroing in on former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
As one of the major pioneers of the ADC coalition, Atiku had reiterated his decision to give another shot at the presidency and will not be stepping down for anyone which further questions Peter Obi’s fate in the election.
Labour Party Crisis
There is no doubt that the Labour Party was able to break into the political space in 2023 due to the presence of Peter Obi alongside his supporters’ Obidient Movement.
However, the internal crises in the Labour Party have continued to cast a shadow over the 2027 presidential ambition of the former Governor of Anambra State.
The current crises in the Labour Party began after the tenure expiration of its National Chairman, Julius Abure, in March 2024.
Abure, in an effort to consolidate his hold on the party, summoned a national convention, which returned him as chairman.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rejected the convention because the party did not comply with INEC regulations for such a convention.
Despite several efforts by Peter Obi to resolve the crises in the Labour Party, there is yet no sign of a proper national convention in the party.
PDP Crisis
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have urged Peter Obi to return to its platform and contest the 2027 presidential election but the party has been embroiled in a leadership crisis and a wave of defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Also, the influence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, could undermine Peter Obi’s future in the party.
Peter Obi’s Fate
With the tide against Peter Obi in the ADC and crisis within the PDP, LP, the question is where will he call home in 2027?
In an exclusive interview with Naijaonpoint, the South-South cordinator of the Obidient Movement, Onochie Osheokwu, stated that Peter Obi remains the best candidate to wrest power with Tinubu.
Osheokwu emphasised that Peter Obi as a prominent first-time presidential candidate in 2023, garnered about six million votes, stressing it was a significant achievement considering it was his first shot at the presidency.
He also downplayed the speculation that Peter Obi’s support will diminish in 2027, noting that his support base is still active and growing, with the hunger and socio-economic discontent fueling potential support for his candidacy in the next election.
He said, “Everyone at the coalition table knows the best thing to do, including the assessments. Atiku Abubakar is a politician. He has been in politics, I think, one of the oldest politicians. we say for me one of the older democrats we have in Nigeria he has been in politics he has contested he has won elections he has lost elections, and he knows what to do he knows that their best shot as we stand today in getting out apc who has brought us into too many hardship and and death, not just hardship.
“If it’s only hardship, it would have been a better option. The APC comes with hardship and death. Death in terms of insecurity, death in terms of hunger. A hungry man is an angry man now. If you check the rate of kidnapping now in everywhere, not just a particular region, no particular site. Not even, you can say villages, no. Even in towns, you can, what happened in Abuja a few months, last month now, about the attack, the robbery attack on the residence of one of Arise media journalists.
“We have also proven to Nigerians that yes, he can do it. He has six million votes in his bag. In his first contest, in his first contest ever approaching the presidency. So every other person has approached presidency before, including the sitting president. He has approached it because he came, he was supposed to be the vice president to President Buhari, but because of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, he decided to push forward the former vice president, Osinbajo. So you can see he has been in control of power. He has been this and that. He has been around it. But the first person, who just tried it in 2023 and made a lot of impact, was Peter Obi. And he can still do it. That vote, those votes, those same people that voted in 2023, they are not dead. They are still alive. In fact, they have multiplied.”
Despite the factional challenges within the LP, Osheokwu confirmed that Peter Obi’s chances of contesting under the party remain intact.
He said, “For us and the Labour Party, as of today, we are still members of the Labour Party. We had a meeting last week, Saturday, and Peter Obi told us categorically and clearly that he’s a member of ADC Coalition. Coalition is coming together to form an alliance. So he’s in coalition, but as a party member, you have to be one party at one time. We are still members of the Labour Party, registered members of the Labour Party. And we don’t think his chances are hanging. Whether any other place, every other party knows that the best person they could use. And even the ruling party knows. That’s why you see the propaganda, ceremony of propaganda attacks on his person. They are not even facing issues. They are facing his person every day. They know that the best person is Peter Obi. The other opposition party wants him. But for today, he’s a member of the Labour Party.”
With Peter Obi’s 2027 president ambition still uncertain, Osheokwu added, “One thing I can tell you as an inner circle member of Peter Obi, that he will be on the ballot.”
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]