2027: Why Peter Obi Is Likely To Leave ADC — Jide Ojo

Public Affairs analyst, Jide Ojo, believes Peter Obi is likely to leave the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for another party ahead of the 2027 election if he fails to win the party’s presidential primaries.

Ojo said this during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, saying Atiku Abubakar might outspend Peter Obi, particularly if they are going to conduct indirect primaries.

“Rumour mill has it that Atiku has been a very good benevolent spender when it comes to party primaries,” he said on Wednesday.

“Assuming, without conceding that in a free and fair primaries in ADC Atiku emerges, I can see Peter Obi likely going to leave the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for another party.”

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He claimed that Atiku wants to be in the frontline in terms of determining who will succeed or who will be the candidate of the ADC.

“Which is why there are fears in certain quarters that he may outspend Peter Obi, particularly if they are going to conduct indirect primaries,” Ojo said.

He however noted that Obi, a former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) has brought some excitement to the opposition coalition.

“I watched the live transmission of his former defection from the Labour Party to ADC on December 31, 2025, and on that day, at least about four senators from the Southeast, about 16 House of Representatives members from the Southeast, and an indeterminable number of State House of Assembly members said they were defecting with him.

“When Atiku Abubakar defected weeks before, toward the end of November, I didn’t see any serving lawmaker or governor defecting with him,” he added.

Ojo recalled that Obi has said unequivocally that he is going to be on the ballot in 2027.

“If somebody says, ‘I will be on the ballot,’ it is only the prime candidate, the candidate of the party that will be given the certificate of return, even though it is the party logo that appears on the ballot.

“What Peter Obi means is that he is not going to play second fiddle,’ he said.

Obi, LP’s candidate in the 2023 election from the South-East geopolitical zone defected to the ADC on the 31st of December, 2025 ahead of the 2027 election.

Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), candidate in the 2023 election, left the party for the ADC in November 2025.

The duo is among the heavyweight politicians in the ADC battling to fly the party’s ticket in next year’s election.