In a stark assessment of the 2027 presidential election, veteran journalist and politician Dele Momodu has declared that opposition figures Peter Obi and Goodluck Jonathan pose no significant threat to President Bola Tinubu if they run independently.
Momodu, a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, stated that the opposition’s only viable path to competitiveness is to form a united coalition and strategically leverage ethnic and religious affiliations. He made these assertions in a detailed statement on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday.
According to Momodu, Nigeria has “comfortably, voluntarily, and predictably, cruised, senselessly, into a one-party state,” with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) consolidating control over both the executive and legislative branches.
Despite this bleak outlook, Momodu insisted that “the game is not over” for the opposition. He presented a clear, two-part strategy for a credible challenge:
- Regional Unity: Arguing that President Tinubu has “locked down the South,” Momodu urged opposition parties to “work speedily to lock down the North.”
- A Strategic Ticket: He explicitly called for the opposition to “play the ethnic and religious cards” by fielding a “formidable Northern Muslim candidate” alongside a “very popular Southern Christian running mate.” This, he suggested, would be the most effective counter to a potential repeat of Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Concluding his argument, Momodu warned that without this specific formula of a Northern candidate and a Southern deputy, any challenge from Southern candidates like Obi or Jonathan would end in a “spectacular” failure. He emphasized that such a coalition would require “candidates of absolute necessity” and decisive, swift action.
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