The founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Elijah Ayodele, has predicted that the presidential bid of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, will not gain traction in the 2027 general election.

Ayodele attributed his prediction to what he described as the NDC’s strategic error of contesting the presidential election independently instead of aligning with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to build a broader opposition coalition.

The cleric made the remarks while addressing members of his congregation in a video shared on X, where he criticised the party’s decision to run as a standalone platform despite growing calls for opposition unity ahead of the next presidential poll.

According to him, the NDC would have stood a stronger chance if it had joined forces with the ADC rather than pursuing what he described as a solo political journey.

“You see the NDC party in Nigeria, assuming you can listen. Instead of you going as a solo party, you would have merged with the ADC and formed a coalition,” Ayodele said.

He argued that the party’s independent bid had effectively removed it from serious electoral calculations, insisting that the strategy would not deliver victory in 2027.

“But you alone going solo, NDC is not in the calculation. They call it OK but I’m not seeing anything okay. I do not see ‘OK’ (Obi and Kwankwaso) going anywhere in the 2027 Presidential election,” he added.

Obi and Kwankwaso defected from the ADC to the NDC in May, citing persistent internal divisions and ongoing legal disputes within the party as reasons for their decision to seek a new political platform.

Their move altered the opposition landscape, with the NDC subsequently adopting the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket for the 2027 presidential election, while the ADC picked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate.

Obi previously served as Atiku’s running mate in the 2019 presidential election under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The election was won by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The two politicians later parted ways after Obi left the PDP for the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 presidential election, where he emerged as the party’s candidate. In the 2023 poll, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC was declared winner, defeating Atiku, who contested on the PDP platform, while Obi finished third.

In the build-up to the 2027 election, Obi, Atiku and other opposition leaders initially rallied around the ADC in an attempt to forge a broad coalition aimed at unseating President Tinubu. However, the alliance later collapsed following irreconcilable differences among key stakeholders, prompting Obi and Kwankwaso to leave the party with their supporters for NDC.

Ayodele, however, maintained that the decision to leave the coalition arrangement had significantly weakened the NDC’s electoral prospects.

According to the cleric, opposition parties seeking to challenge the ruling establishment require a united front rather than fragmented political structures capable of splitting votes.

The founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Elijah Ayodele, has predicted that the presidential bid of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, will not gain traction in the 2027 general election.

Ayodele attributed his prediction to what he described as the NDC’s strategic error of contesting the presidential election independently instead of aligning with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to build a broader opposition coalition.

The cleric made the remarks while addressing members of his congregation in a video shared on X, where he criticised the party’s decision to run as a standalone platform despite growing calls for opposition unity ahead of the next presidential poll.

According to him, the NDC would have stood a stronger chance if it had joined forces with the ADC rather than pursuing what he described as a solo political journey.

“You see the NDC party in Nigeria, assuming you can listen. Instead of you going as a solo party, you would have merged with the ADC and formed a coalition,” Ayodele said.

He argued that the party’s independent bid had effectively removed it from serious electoral calculations, insisting that the strategy would not deliver victory in 2027.

“But you alone going solo, NDC is not in the calculation. They call it OK but I’m not seeing anything okay. I do not see ‘OK’ (Obi and Kwankwaso) going anywhere in the 2027 Presidential election,” he added.

Obi and Kwankwaso defected from the ADC to the NDC in May, citing persistent internal divisions and ongoing legal disputes within the party as reasons for their decision to seek a new political platform.

Their move altered the opposition landscape, with the NDC subsequently adopting the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket for the 2027 presidential election, while the ADC picked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate.

Obi previously served as Atiku’s running mate in the 2019 presidential election under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The election was won by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The two politicians later parted ways after Obi left the PDP for the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 presidential election, where he emerged as the party’s candidate. In the 2023 poll, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC was declared winner, defeating Atiku, who contested on the PDP platform, while Obi finished third.

In the build-up to the 2027 election, Obi, Atiku and other opposition leaders initially rallied around the ADC in an attempt to forge a broad coalition aimed at unseating President Tinubu. However, the alliance later collapsed following irreconcilable differences among key stakeholders, prompting Obi and Kwankwaso to leave the party with their supporters for NDC.

Ayodele, however, maintained that the decision to leave the coalition arrangement had significantly weakened the NDC’s electoral prospects.

According to the cleric, opposition parties seeking to challenge the ruling establishment require a united front rather than fragmented political structures capable of splitting votes.