₦airaland Forum

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Anthony Sani, has claimed that Northerners don’t trust Peter Obi enough to allow him to rule Nigeria for one single tenure. Sani also noted that the politics of zoning may not favour Atiku in his bid to defeat Tinubu.

In this interview with DAILY POST, Sani noted that Tinubu stands a better chance to get Northern votes and retain his mandate in office.


In 2027, who may likely pull Buhari’s bloc votes from the North between Tinubu, Atiku, and Peter Obi?

President Bola Tinubu may still prevail. This is because former President Buhari had told the nation and his supporters that he was not favorably disposed to the coalition and what it stands for.

This is because he is committed to APC which made him president twice. Given the nature of Buhari’s supporters, they would not like to betray him even in the grave.

Can Tinubu get Northern votes and trust without Buhari?

President Bola Tinubu can still get Northern votes because of Buhari’s supporters who would not like to betray Buhari.This is because he had told them he was in APC and died in APC.

Can the opposition coalition defeat Tinubu?

The opposition may not defeat President Bola Tinubu because the dynamics are not in favor of the coalition. For example, unless President Tinubu does too badly- which I hope not, the North will prefer to let President Bola Tinubu complete the tenure meant for the South. This is because he is the only southerner who has only one term to go.

The North cannot trust Peter Obi that he will do one term. You would recall President Jonathan pledged to do one term but reneged.

The politics of zoning does not favor Atiku precisely because all southerners and most northerners favor the idea of zoning in the interest of unity and stability of the country.

Which candidates should the coalition put forward that will give them the needed votes to defeat Tinubu? Speculations are around Atiku-Peter Obi, or Atiku-Amaechi

I have told you the politics do not favor the coalition. Whether the ticket is Atiku/Obi or Atiku/Amaechi, the result will be the same.


There is a school of thought that believes that with the caliber of imminent Nigerians in the coalition, Tinubu will ‘sweat’ during the 2027 elections, what’s your take on that?

Apart from the fact that the political dynamics does not favor the coalition, there is the challenge of the fact that the opposition has not told the nation what it will do differently from what Tinubu administration is doing.

You would recall Atiku, Peter Obi, and Bola Tinubu campaigned for removal of fuel subsidy as a non-choice situation. And when the results of the elections were out, Atiku got 7m votes, Peter Obi garnered 6.1m votes and Bola Tinubu got 8m votes.These suggest Nigerians saw removal of fuel subsidies as a non-choice factor.

So, in the absence of a real alternative course of action, the coalition does not constitute a viable platform that can adopt ADC to defeat the ruling party. More so, the south south and part of south east are moving to APC.

Do you see Kwankwaso and El-Rufai playing any major role in getting votes for their respective camps in 2027?

Former governor El-Rufai is a very intelligent technocrat but not a street politician as such. So, he may not have electoral value compared to former Governor Kwankwaso who can deliver Kano state. And I foresee Kwankwaso defecting to APC and adding political value to himself.

seunowa:
I have said it many times that neither Atiku/obi or obi/ whoever can defeat Tinubu in 2027 presidential election. The point is who are the people joining or defecting to Adc?. The answer is they are either expired or disgruntled politicians. Tinubu has won 2027 presidential election in 2025......

Akpakomiza2:
This is the brutal truth cc penguin, Fergie,svoboda,Aminda

TimeManager:
From observation, the north are even the biggest critics of the coalition. They speak not only from the point of facts but also from sentiments. Atiku and Obi are different sides of the same coin, the sentiments against Atiku in the north is as much as the sentiments against Obi in the south. There's no pathway to victory for either of them whether they run on a joint ticket or individually.

-Kiss the truth!

Ttalk:
PDP will support APC this time around to bury any threat coming from the coalition.

Apart from that Atiku has not demonstrated smartness in any of activities in the past either as a part of government or as a party leader.

It would be disastrous to vote someone who is unable to resolve ordinary party squabbles.

Akpakomiza2:
This is the brutal truth cc penguin, Fergie,svoboda,Aminda

franchasofficia:
This one is still stuck in the 1970s political permutations, will I blame him? No! Because he is of the old era and so he lacks the indepth knowledge of the new era politics of today.


Atiku has already been adopted as next Northern political Messiah after Buhari.


Atiku-Obi will defeat Tinubu hands down.

Obi-El Rufai can still work but 2027 Presidential election is not just about winning at the polling units, it's beyond that, after people have voted for you to win, can you defend and protect their votes against an incumbent President's rigging mercenaries until the results are announced? That is where I have issue with Obi being the flag bearer of the coalition ticket.


Peter Obi that I know is a man of peace and obeys rule of law to the core, his Obidient Movement supporters are enlightened youths who just want positive change in Nigeria's leadership and most of us are fully engaged/employed, we don't have time for physical street fight and thug war, Igbos another Peter Obi's support base are too refined, enlightened and republican in nature to engage in street fight or confrontation to protect Peter Obi's electoral victory at the polling units, that was the same reason Obi got rigged out in 2023; nobody to fight and defend his victory, so the incumbent government via INEC then helped Tinubu to carry the day, and Supreme Court upheld the electoral robbery.


If Peter Obi fly the coalition ticket, the same thing will happen because Northerners that have the street OT to defend their preferred candidate's votes won't put body since Peter Obi isn't from the North, the will be neutral expecting Igbos to lead the revolt should Tinubu attempt to rig the results.


But if Atiku flies the coalition ticket with Obi as running mate, it is game over for Bola Tinubu and APC and everybody including Tinubu knows this and that is what they will work so hard to ensure it doesn't happen by using different media publications and newspaper headlines like this to confuse Peter Obi not to deputize Atiku, Obi and Obidient Movement must not allow Tinubu and his political mercenaries to succeed. Swallow your pride, work with Atiku and let's unseat Tinubu first. I trust Atiku more than any other Nigerian politician after Peter Obi, Atiku won't be as horrible as the incumbent President now.

kolente:
Except for people who want to cash-in on the finances and goodwill of Alhaji Atiku, the patriotic and common sense ball has fallen in his court.

Support PO if you have the national interest at heart.