Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has said he cannot enter into an individual political arrangement with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Obi said any coalition involving him and Atiku would have to be negotiated and agreed upon by the political parties backing their respective candidacies.
The former Anambra State governor spoke on Thursday during an interview on Arise TV amid discussions over efforts by opposition political leaders to forge a united front ahead of the 2027 election.
Obi said the issue was not one that could be resolved through a personal agreement between him and Atiku because both politicians were candidates of different political parties.
“I am candidate, my leader Atiku is a candidate of another political party. I am the candidate of another party. So, you’re talking about two parties coming together. It’s no longer me or him, you are now talking about parties coming together,” he said.
He likened the proposed alliance to a merger between two corporations, arguing that such a process could not be determined solely by the chief executives of the organisations involved.
“It’s like a situation where you have two corporations trying to come together. It’s not about two CEOs having a drink and agreeing that we’re going to work together. It’s to look at how do we bring these two corporations together,” Obi said.
According to him, both his candidacy and that of Atiku are backed by established political structures, making any decision on a possible alliance an institutional matter.
“I am a candidate representing a political party, and Atiku Abubakar is also a candidate representing a political party. Any alliance must be between parties, not between individuals,” he said.
Obi also dismissed the suggestion that either candidate could simply withdraw from the race as an individual decision.
“Atiku will not step down, and neither will I, because both of us have institutional support behind us and it is only the collective that can come together to create any alliance, not me or Atiku,” he said.
His comments come against the backdrop of continuing opposition efforts to build a political coalition capable of challenging the ruling establishment in the 2027 presidential election.
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