Former governors Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso are pushing to run together on the African Democratic Congress ticket for the 2027 presidential election.
People inside the party say the pair are talking with northern leaders about a one-term power rotation arrangement. The goal is to lock down support for a southern president in 2027, with Obi serving only a single term if it goes through.
The plan also aims to pull backing away from Atiku Abubakar before the primaries start. In the past few weeks, Kwankwaso’s team has stepped up meetings with traditional rulers and political figures across the north. They’ve pressed these stakeholders to back a southern presidency that would finish out eight years.
One person familiar with the talks described it as a fairness issue. The north already had its eight years before Tinubu took office.
“What we’re canvassing is fairness; the South should be allowed to complete its eight years. The North completed its eight years before Tinubu took over power.
“While we have seen that Tinubu’s administration is a disaster, that should not rob the entire South of its deserved eight years.
“What we need is to elect another southerner as the next president in 2027, and that is why we are canvassing for Obi, who, luckily, has promised a one term,” the source told a national newspaper.
The same insider said they are still working to get concrete commitments from northern leaders.
“We have been convincing some northern leaders to accept Obi’s one-term proposal and support him. RMK (Kwankwaso) is working on this, and some of our leaders in the North have genuinely thrown their weight behind him,” he added.
A second source said a committee formed by Obi and Kwankwaso is now focused on making the one-term pledge official and public.
“From our end, the committee set up by Obi and Kwankwaso on their joint ticket is making plans to formalise Obi’s one-term promise and make it public,” he said.
Kwankwaso himself is heading up the push to build support for the alliance in the north. Their backers launched the Obi–Kwankwaso Movement on April 20 to push the joint ticket ahead of the primaries.
A former lawmaker who supports Atiku said his camp is aware of the activity but isn’t bothered. “We know their every move, but no offence is taken. It is a normal political gimmick and we are all marketing our individual aspirants,” he said.
He noted that Kwankwaso is the one leading the talks with northern leaders.
