A former presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has claimed that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan offered Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, the position of Coordinating Minister of the Economy, on the condition that Obi withdraws from the 2027 presidential race.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, Kachikwu alleged that Northern political interests drafted Jonathan into the race as part of a broader strategy to diminish the South’s influence.
“In order to weaken the South, they have now drafted in former President Jonathan into the race, who is alleged to be offering Peter Obi the position of Coordinating Minister of the Economy for him to support his ambition,” he stated.
Kachikwu also claimed Obi was warned that his chances of winning northern votes are slim due to being Igbo:
“A Peter Obi has been told in very clear terms that he will never get northern votes as an Igbo man, and as such, he should accept to be Atiku’s running mate.”
He accused Atiku Abubakar and certain northern elites of exploiting regional and religious divisions to cling to power without addressing longstanding issues like illiteracy and poverty.
“They use the weapons of region, religion, tongue, tribe, and poverty as they convince millions of poor Northerners that a southern President Tinubu hates them and is the cause of their poverty,” Kachikwu charged.
He condemned what he described as false narratives targeting President Tinubu and southern candidates, urging Nigerians to build with integrity:
“We must all come to equity with clean hands and sincerity of purpose. We don’t burn our houses because we want to kill rats and cockroaches; sometimes we just need to make our houses clean so that rats and cockroaches leave on their own.”
“My earnest prayer is that Nigeria will soon work for every one of us.”
DAILY GAZETTE reports that Peter Obi, still loyal to the Labour Party despite joining an opposition coalition, has not acknowledged Kachikwu’s claims.
Other opposition figures have migrated to the ADC, but it remains unclear where Obi’s 2027 ambitions will ultimately lead.
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