Politicians in Nigeria have activated permutations for the 2027 presidential election......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Bola Tinubu, a political kingmaker, is the current president and is expected to run for a second term in office in 2027. The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain would be 75 by then.
In this report, Legit highlights three long-standing chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who could back Tinubu in 2027.
1) Nyesom Wike
Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), is a longtime member of the PDP.
The 56-year-old is one of the most influential southern politicians in the country.
In March 2022, Wike declared that he would be running for the president’s office under the PDP platform ahead of the 2023 general election. He was defeated by Atiku Abubakar who won the primaries with 371 votes while Wike got 237 votes being the first runner-up.
After apparently working against Atiku and ensuring Tinubu’s victory in 2023, the president appointed him as minister of the FCT in August of that year following his nomination, screening and approval by the senate.
Considering the lingering cracks in the PDP, the Rivers politician may back his boss again in the next general election.
2) Reno Omokri
Omokri is a social media personality and former presidential aide.
Although a known member of the PDP, Omokri has been a vocal defender of President Tinubu and a staunch antagonist of supporters of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi.
In the 2023 poll, Omokri worked for Atiku. However, considering his present leaning towards the Tinubu presidency, it would not be a surprise to see him supporting the ‘Jagaban Borgu’.
3) Ayodele Fayose
Fayose is a former presidential aspirant. He publicly declared his intentions to run for president in the general election in 2019. His party, the PDP, admonished him against the ambition to be the party’s presidential candidate. Fayose subsequently dropped his ambition.
In July 2023, the former Ekiti governor disclosed that he worked against his party’s presidential candidate, Atiku, in the February 25, 2023 election.
Fayose, one of PDP’s longest-serving members, revealed that he worked against Atiku “100%” because the “PDP has not been fair to me”.
The PDP stalwart admitted that he worked for the victory of the flag-bearer of the APC, Tinubu, in Ekiti in the 2023 general election. Hence, like Wike, Fayose could queue behind Tinubu for a second time.
2027: Ayodele advises opposition on strategy
Earlier, Legit reported that the spiritual head of the Inri evangelical church, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, said the opposition must form an alliance to defeat Tinubu in 2027.
Ayodele in a video obtained by Legit, asked the opposition to build a force and put a candidate forward in the next presidential election.