Former political adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Akin Osuntokun, has described a potential presidential ticket between Labour Party’s Peter Obi and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) leader Rabiu Kwankwaso as a stronger and more realistic alliance than the Labour Party’s 2023 ticket.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Sunday, Osuntokun said a partnership between Obi and Kwankwaso would improve the opposition’s chances in the 2027 presidential election because of Kwankwaso’s political influence, particularly in Kano State.
According to him, “Obi and Kwankwaso is a much more realistic, more compelling ticket than the 2023 one. That’s why I said this is a more realistic, more compelling ticket than the 2023 one.”
Explaining why he believes the alliance would be stronger, Osuntokun said Kwankwaso’s political base would significantly boost the ticket.
“If you have somebody like Kwankwaso, somebody who, we’ll wait to see how it turns out, you know, who makes, you know, a kind of state politic. That is a big, you know, big bonus, you know, for the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket,” he said.
Osuntokun also claimed that former President Obasanjo played a central role in bringing the two opposition figures together.
“He was the one who brokered the ticket between Obi and Kwankwaso. Both of them are quite close to him,” he said.
He added: “So that, of course, is a ticket that makes sense, that has the potential to make a lot of impact in the 2027 election. So, that is the case. I can tell you that for free, that it was the one who brought the ticket together.”
Despite backing the proposed alliance, Osuntokun acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu would still benefit from the advantages of incumbency ahead of the next presidential election.
“It has always become a norm that an incumbent in power has the advantage to be elected. So that is there,” he said.
He, however, maintained that the Obi-led ticket enjoys stronger public appeal than former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s political camp.
“But the Obi ticket, for me, is stronger in the popular imagination than the Atiku ticket,” Osuntokun said.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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