Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), has asserted that a joint presidential ticket featuring Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso would stand a significantly higher chance of winning the 2027 election than if the two contested separately.
Speaking in an interview with Symfoni TV released on Saturday, Lawal estimated that an Obi-Kwankwaso alliance would have a “70 percent chance” of clinching the presidency. In contrast, he gave the incumbent, President Bola Tinubu, a 50 percent chance of retention and predicted a total loss for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
“Peter Obi will try to be fair to everybody; he will try to do what is right. But take note—I am pairing him with Kwankwaso,” Lawal stated. “Individually, their candidacies might struggle, but as a pair, I give them close to 70 percent on my scale. Again, I give Bola 50 percent, and Atiku, zero.”
The former SGF was emphatic that Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s 2023 flagbearer, would not see a path to victory in the next general election.
“Definitely, Atiku will lose. He will, and I pray he loses. I am not the only one who feels this way; he will lose,” Lawal added.
Lawal’s remarks come amid his public fallout with the mainstream opposition leadership following the 2023 elections. While Lawal, a former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), initially moved toward the opposition after opposing the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket, he has since become a vocal advocate for a formidable third-force merger.
He previously alleged that the processes within the major opposition parties were marred by irregularities, leading him to pitch his support behind Peter Obi of the Labour Party during the 2023 cycle.
Political analysts suggest that Lawal’s “70 percent” projection is a call for the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to collapse their structures into a single front to challenge the APC’s dominance in 2027.
