2027: Atiku Has Become APC’s Best Campaign Manager — Oshiomhole

The senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the best campaign manager of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying his criticisms of fellow opposition figures are indirectly strengthening the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, the former Edo State governor said growing divisions within the opposition have weakened their chances of presenting a united challenge against the APC.

“You mean that APC would be worried about which of the parties now… ADC? I saw Atiku. Atiku is now our best campaign manager because he is attacking Obi, and I see Obi attacking Amaechi,” Oshiomhole said.

He also pointed to disagreements involving Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, noting that opposition leaders appear more focused on criticising one another than building a unified front.

“I see Amaechi say Obi is a regional player, Atiku is a regional player, and he is the only national player, but he didn’t tell us what his ward unit looks like,” he added.

Oshiomhole expressed confidence that opposition parties and emerging coalitions would struggle to unseat the APC in 2027, insisting that Nigerians have yet to hear clear alternative policy directions from them.

“So, the opposition can have their dreams, but they will be defeated flatly because nobody believes them. They have to speak to the new policies that they would reverse, whether they would reverse taxation, reverse fuel subsidy removal, reverse student loans, or reverse any of those bold decisions that President Tinubu has taken,” he said.

The lawmaker further argued that the opposition appears united mainly by the ambition to gain power rather than a shared ideology or policy direction.

He maintained that President Bola Tinubu has taken difficult but necessary decisions to reform the economy and stabilise governance despite political risks.

Political activities have continued to intensify ahead of the 2027 elections, with key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Rotimi Amaechi, jostling for influence.

While some opposition leaders initially aligned with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Obi and Kwankwaso later joined the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), citing legal disputes within the ADC.

Atiku and Amaechi, however, remain within the ADC coalition, amid ongoing uncertainty over who may eventually emerge as the opposition’s presidential candidate.