Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has dismissed the chances of former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, securing the ticket of either the African Democratic Congress (ADC) or LP ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking on The Clarity Zone Podcast, Bwala said Obi has lost control of the political momentum that propelled him during the 2023 elections, adding that his influence within both the Labour Party and broader opposition coalitions has significantly waned.
The presidential aide said Obi lacks the organisational and leadership capacity to anchor any coalition movement, let alone emerge as a presidential or vice-presidential candidate.
Bwala queried, “After the election, he lost everybody he was leading. He had members in the House of Representatives. How many are there in the National Assembly?
“The only governor he had… is the governor with him or with us? In fact, I have not seen one that identifies with him at the moment.”
He added that the candidates Obi campaigned for in various states during the 2023 polls failed to win, further illustrating his diminishing political reach.
Bwala also took a swipe at Obi’s social media supporters, accusing them of intolerance and hypocrisy.
He said, “The army of Trojans that he has on social media, they attack people. They say you are two-faced, that you change party. That’s what they do every day.
“But when you say their master and hero has been changing party like a player in the Premier League changes clubs every season, they don’t like it.”
Bwala recounted Obi’s political journey, describing it as inconsistent.
He said, “He started with PDP, then went to APGA. In APGA, he came back to PDP. From PDP, he went to Labour.
“Right now, when you hear people talk about being between the devil and the deep blue sea, he is between ADC and Labour.”
According to Bwala, Obi would not secure the presidential or vice-presidential slot from either party. “He will not be the presidential candidate, he will not be the vice-presidential candidate. Peter Obi is going to run on a platform other than Labour and other than ADC,” he asserted.
Reflecting on Obi’s performance in the 2023 elections, where he garnered over 6 million votes and came third, Bwala said the support was driven by a fleeting movement rather than deep political structures.
“Obi is an actor in Nigeria’s political space. His appeal was based on make-believe, not grounded political reality,” he said.
The presidential aide concluded that Obi’s 2023 rise was circumstantial and that he would struggle to replicate the same feat in future elections.