Reported by: Agande Richard Aondofa | Edited by: Henry | Stone Reporter News
Whether as a Presidential candidate or a running mate, Labour Party’s Peter Obi may face major setbacks in the 2027 general elections, particularly in Lagos and the South-South, regions where he performed impressively in 2023.
Political analyst Reno Omokri argues that Obi’s recent statements and policy positions have alienated key voter blocs that were crucial to his previous success.
According to Omokri, Obi’s comment that “Nigeria’s infrastructure investment remains excessively concentrated in Lagos, often at the expense of other regions” was politically damaging. He said the remark could be interpreted by Lagos voters—who largely depend on the city’s infrastructure for their livelihoods—as a threat to their economic interests.
“A good politician protects his base,” Omokri wrote. “You can’t win Lagos because of the combined Lukumi Yoruba and Igbo vote and then tell Lagosians that you’ll divert infrastructural development elsewhere. That statement was a threat to Lagos’s economy.”
Omokri compared Obi’s political miscalculation to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2012 subsidy removal, which sparked mass protests despite being an economically sound decision. He emphasized that “people don’t vote against their own economic interests,” suggesting that Obi’s stance could alienate his urban supporters in Lagos.
Furthermore, Omokri predicted diminishing support for Obi in the South-South, citing the candidate’s opposition to the ₦15 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, which has been celebrated as the largest infrastructural investment in the region’s history.
“Since 1914, the single largest infrastructural project cited in that geopolitical zone is the ₦15 trillion, 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway,” he stated. “How can Obi oppose a project that benefits the very region he needs to win?”
Omokri argued that the project is not being executed at the expense of Obi’s southeastern base, making his criticism of it politically “tone-deaf.” He added that Obi’s comment labeling the project as “non-essential” would likely anger many in the South-South who view it as a long-overdue development.
“By coming out against a project that is popular in the region and calling for its cancellation, Obi is asking the South-South to vote against their own progress,” Omokri said.
He concluded that Obi’s repeated missteps demonstrate a lack of political tact and an overreliance on “trader instincts” rather than strategic leadership.
“It’s like knowing someone wants to cut your head and still handing him a machete,” Omokri remarked, warning that such political naivety could cost Obi both Lagos and the South-South in 2027.
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