Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress(NDC), on Thursday, 10 September, 2026 offered reasons he is not ready to step down FOR the presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress(ADC) Atiku Abubakar, , saying any decision on a possible opposition alliance must now be taken by the political parties rather than individual candidates.
Obi’s comment comes following continuing efforts by opposition politicians to forge a common platform capable of challenging President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 presidential election.
Obi, a former Anambra State Governor stated this during an interview with Arise Television aired on Thursday where he spoke extensively on the 2027 election, the opposition coalition, the economy, national unity, security and governance.
According to him, the issue was no longer about whether he or Atiku would personally make way for the other, stressing that both men are now presidential candidates of separate political parties.
Obi said, “Do you know where we are now? Where we are now is that I’m a candidate, my leader Atiku is a candidate of another party, so you are talking about two parties coming together; it’s no longer me or him, as you are now talking about parties coming together.
“All those parties have candidates. So, it is a discussion. It is no longer me, as Peter, talking. It is like a situation where two corporations are trying to come together. It is no longer something where the two CEOs go for a drink and say, ‘We are going to work together’. They need to look at how to bring these two corporations together.”
In 2025, Obi, Atiku and other opposition leaders were involved in the coalition that adopted the ADC as its platform, raising expectations that the former allies could once again work together ahead of the 2027 poll.
The coalition, however, did not result in Obi and Atiku contesting the 2027 presidential election on the same platform.
Obi subsequently emerged as the presidential candidate of the NDC, while Atiku became the ADC presidential candidate.
Their separate candidacies have since intensified speculation over whether one of the two former allies could eventually step down in favour of the other as part of efforts to produce a single opposition presidential candidate.
But Obi said the question should now be considered within the broader context of a possible agreement among political parties rather than as a personal negotiation between himself and Atiku.
According to him, the existence of candidates across the various opposition parties means that any merger or alliance would require negotiations on how the different political structures would be integrated.
His comments appear to leave the door open to negotiations between the parties, but reject the framing of the issue as a simple decision by Obi to surrender his presidential ticket to Atiku.
The NDC candidate was also asked whether he would accept the position of vice-president if an arrangement was reached with Atiku.
Obi denied that he had previously rejected an offer to serve as Atiku’s running mate.
“I don’t know where that was said. I wasn’t even in a position where that was being offered, and I refused,” he said.
Obi and Atiku have a history of running together on the same presidential ticket.
Obi was Atiku’s running mate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 presidential election.
Their political paths diverged ahead of the 2023 election, with Obi leaving the PDP and contesting the presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, while Atiku remained the PDP presidential candidate.
The 2027 contest will therefore mark another election in which both politicians are seeking the presidency, although this time from different opposition platforms after their involvement in the coalition effort.
