Omokri Dismisses 2027 Opposition Merger as ‘Dead on Arrival’

Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Mexico and former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has delivered a withering assessment of the opposition’s 2027 electoral ambitions, dismissing the much-touted coalition against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as “dead on arrival” and nothing more than a “losers’ convention” destined to be shattered by the egos of its leading contenders. Omokri, who campaigned against Tinubu in 2023 but has since emerged as one of the President’s most prominent defenders, made the remarks during an interview with City Boy Movement Media and separately on ARISE NEWS, delivering a blunt verdict on the opposition's prospects.

 

Omokri argued that the coalition project is fundamentally unworkable because its principal actors—former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi—possess ambitions and egos too large to allow the compromises necessary for a viable alliance. “Peter Obi has actually even a larger ego than Waziri Atiku Abubakar. It’s just that Peter Obi has self-esteem issues, so because he has self-esteem issues, he is able to hide the big ego,” Omokri said. “Peter Obi is not going to step down for Waziri Atiku Abubakar. Waziri Atiku Abubakar is not going to step down for Peter Obi. None of those people are going to step down for the other. So it’s dead on arrival”.

 

The former presidential aide predicted that while opposition figures might send representatives to negotiation meetings, the “big fish” themselves would stay away once the difficult question of who becomes the presidential candidate arises. “They will have that meeting. They will send representatives. The big fish themselves will not even go,” he said. When pressed on the possibility of the coalition succeeding, Omokri dismissed the question outright: “I’m not going to spend my intellectual prowess discussing what’s not going to happen”.

 

Omokri ridiculed the emerging alliance as lacking the structure and political clout of the 2013 merger that created the APC. “The ADC is nothing like the APC. When the APC came into power, the APC had governors… They had a sitting member of the House of Reps, a speaker… This party doesn’t have that,” he stated. He also questioned the political relevance of coalition leaders, pointing to former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai. “How many of them control their states? None of them. Nasir El-Rufai’s own son was at the venue where President Bola Tinubu was endorsed for a second term. If you cannot convince your own first son to support you, how do you think you can convince Nigeria?” he asked.

 

Beyond dismissing the coalition, Omokri predicted a smooth re-election path for Tinubu, citing the President’s expanding political base and improving economic indicators. He noted that Tinubu won in 2023 with approximately 20 APC governors, the Central Bank working against him, and numerous other obstacles. “How much so now that he has probably over 30 governors? I mean, he is going to win the election,” Omokri said. He also pointed to Nigeria’s GDP growth, a $14.1 billion trade surplus, and what he described as increased purchasing power for ordinary Nigerians as factors strengthening Tinubu’s re-election prospects.

 

Omokri’s dismissal of the opposition coalition comes as leaders of six opposition parties—the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Social Democratic Party (SDP)—convened in Abuja on Monday to negotiate a common platform ahead of the 2027 elections. The opposition has proposed a four-year “Government of National Competence” as part of a framework to unite against the ruling APC. However, the coalition has struggled with internal divisions, particularly over the selection of a single presidential candidate, with a Wike-backed PDP faction insisting it will contest 2027 without alliances.

 

As Nigeria’s political landscape heats up ahead of the 2027 elections, the opposition faces the monumental task of uniting behind a single candidate to challenge an incumbent who, according to Omokri, has never been stronger. Whether the coalition can overcome the egos and ambitions that Omokri says will doom it remains the central question of Nigeria’s political season. For now, the Ambassador-designate has made his position clear: the opposition alliance is dead before it has even begun.

 

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