Peter Obi camp alleges plot to block his 2027 presidential bid

The media office of Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has accused President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress of orchestrating a systematic campaign to deny Obi a platform for the 2027 presidential election.

In a statement signed by spokesperson Ibrahim Umar on Friday, the Peter Obi Media Office (POMR) alleged that the scheme — in motion since the 2023 election — has involved deliberate destabilisation of the Labour Party, manipulation of the judiciary, and the engineering of legislative amendments targeting Obi’s new political platform.

The statement alleged that despite a Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 settling a leadership dispute within Labour Party, rival factions backed by government influence continued to exploit lower courts to frustrate the apex court’s decision. Obi exited the party on December 31, 2025, a move the statement said was vindicated when the same courts that had resisted the Supreme Court’s authority abruptly dismissed suits linked to factional leader Julius Abure barely a week later.

Following Obi’s alignment with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the statement alleged that the ruling party pushed through an amendment to the Electoral Act specifically designed to put pressure on the ADC and undermine his presidential ambitions.

The statement identified two flashpoints that it said escalated the ruling party’s hostility: Obi’s visit on March 22, 2026, to former Kano Governor and 2023 NNPP presidential candidate Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, and the ADC’s rally in Kano on March 30, where Kwankwaso formally joined the coalition.

Following the rally, the statement alleged, the Independent National Electoral Commission was manipulated into reinterpreting an Appeal Court ruling, resulting in the delisting of ADC’s leadership and putting Obi’s candidacy at risk.

“They are attempting to create an illusion of democratic choice by propping up surrogates in various political parties while scheming for a one-party system in a nation of over 200 million people,” the statement read.

The POMR called on Nigerian and international stakeholders to resist what it described as a plot to entrench a one-party dictatorship and ensure Obi is allowed to present his candidacy to the electorate ahead of the 2027 poll.