Peter Obi’s 2027 warning: “36 governors cannot stop a determined populace”

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has downplayed the influence of state executives in upcoming elections, asserting that political backing from governors will not dictate the future of the polls. Drawing from his previous electoral performances, Obi maintained that a candidate can secure victory without the support of the country’s 36 governors, emphasizing that the ultimate power lies with the voters rather than entrenched political structures.

Speaking during an interview on Noire TV, Obi argued that despite not having the backing of a single governor in the previous election, he was still able to win 12 states, alleging that two states were “taken away through rigging.”

He said “It doesn’t matter whether 36 governors are with the president, I didn’t have one governor in the last election and I won 12 states, even after they have stolen two from me, I won 12 states by making Abuja state we now have 37 states cause that’s what the judgement or the Supreme Court showed.

“Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso won 1 Kano, APC, PDP and Labour all won 12 states each and in it I lost two by a process of rigging, so I would have had 14.

“So it doesn’t matter whether they took all the Governors what is important and what this campaign election is going to be about is about how to make Nigeria work for the poor.”