ADC Ticket: Obi, Kwankwaso To Battle Atiku

 Indications have emerged that a joint presidential ticket involving former presidential candidates Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is being considered ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the pair expected to challenge former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the presidential ticket of the coalition-led African Democratic Congress (ADC), amid renewed efforts to unify the opposition.

Obi and Kwankwaso, who were the presidential candidates of the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) respectively in the 2023 elections, had attempted to form an alliance before that poll. The talks collapsed following disagreements over who would be the candidate and the running mate.

The renewed push for a joint ticket comes against the backdrop of the 2023 election, which saw both men post strong but regionally concentrated performances. Obi secured over six million votes nationwide, winning in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and the states in the South-East, while also mobilising an unprecedented youth-driven movement across urban centres to come third. Kwankwaso, on his part, delivered a decisive victory in Kano State, reaffirming his control of one of Nigeria’s largest voting blocs through his Kwankwasiyya political movement to come fourth.

Daily Trust gathered at the weekend that fresh efforts to reconcile both camps are being spearheaded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is said to be convinced that a united Obi-Kwankwaso ticket offers the opposition a better chance of mounting a credible challenge to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

Multiple sources familiar with the talks said Obasanjo has been able to tentatively persuade Kwankwaso to accept to be Obi’s running mate.

While Obi formally joined the ADC penultimate week and had earlier indicated his intention to be on the ballot in 2027, Kwankwaso, who remains in the NNPP, told his supporters at the weekend that he was in discussions with political leaders and would soon announce his next line of action.

Kwankwaso had also, through one of his close aides, confirmed to Daily Trust that “high-level discussions with key stakeholders across the political spectrum” were ongoing.

“While our party has not yet finalised its position or reached a full consensus on our path forward, we can confirm that we are engaged in high-level discussions with key stakeholders across the political spectrum, including political parties and individuals.

"Our position will very soon be known to the public. We firmly believe that Nigeria urgently requires a departure from the current environment characterised by rampant insecurity and the widespread collapse of essential systems.

“We kindly urge the public to remain patient and to continue supporting our movement as we work tirelessly towards building a better Nigeria for all citizens,” the aide said.

The aide was responding to Daily Trust’s enquiries on a meeting Kwankwaso reportedly held last week with Obasanjo and Obi. While the former Kano governor neither confirmed nor denied the meeting, sources said two strategic options were being pursued to ensure an Obi-Kwankwaso ticket features prominently in the 2027 race.

According to sources, the first plan is to clinch the ADC presidential ticket by confronting Atiku directly at the party’s primaries.

"Kwankwaso went to Abeokuta to meet Baba Obasanjo last week and Baba told him to join the ADC and accept to be Obi’s vice. This is similar to what General Ibrahim Babangida told him weeks earlier, although IBB did not go as far as discussing the vice-presidential slot. He only advised him to join the ADC,” one of the sources said.

"The thinking is that the political momentum and current dynamics, both local and international, favour an Obi presidency. Baba Obasanjo is a key promoter of Obi’s ambition. Even Atiku has acknowledged in the past that it was Baba who recommended Obi to him as vice-presidential candidate in 2019.

"The goal is to get Obi and Kwankwaso to work together in order to challenge Atiku for the ADC ticket. They know Atiku will not back down easily, and that the internal dynamics of party politics favour him. There is hardly a chance that either Obi or Kwankwaso, acting alone, can defeat Atiku at the primaries. But with both of them pulling their weight together, they believe they may stand a chance,” the source added.

Daily Trust, however, gathered that promoters of the proposed ticket are also considering a fallback option anchored on securing a platform outside the ADC should the primaries prove unfavourable.

“They have decided that if they fail to secure the ADC ticket, knowing how formidable Atiku is within the party, they will move to another political party to actualise the joint ticket,” another source said.

Efforts to get a reaction from the Atiku Media Office were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report. Calls to Atiku’s media advisers, Paul Ibe and Phrank Shaibu, did not connect.

Similar efforts to get a reaction from the national coordinator of the Obidient’s Movement, Yunusa Tanko, who often speaks for Obi, was unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.

https://dailytrust.com/adc-ticket-obi-kwankwaso-to-battle-atiku/?noamp=available