2027: Southeast Group seeks Igbo Elders’ intervention to persuade Peter Obi to back Tinubu

The Southeast chapter of the Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN) has resolved to seek the intervention of prominent Igbo leaders in persuading former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race and support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The group’s Southeast leader, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, disclosed this in Owerri on Saturday after a meeting focused on strategies to secure victory for Tinubu across the five Southeast states in the 2027 election.

Ngoforo said the organisation plans to approach the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by Senator John Azuta Mbata, as well as prominent elder statesmen, including Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe.

According to him, the proposed intervention would be aimed at persuading Obi to consider the long-term political interests of the Southeast rather than viewing the 2027 election solely through the prism of his presidential ambition.

He said the group would urge the former governor to consider whether a strategic political alliance between the Southeast and Southwest could provide the region with a stronger pathway to securing the presidency in the future.

Ngoforo argued that Tinubu, if re-elected in 2027, would be constitutionally limited to one additional term, making it necessary for the Southeast to consider building a political arrangement with the Southwest that could produce reciprocal benefits when power changes hands.

He said supporting Tinubu in 2027 should not necessarily be interpreted as abandoning the Southeast’s presidential ambition, but as an opportunity to build political goodwill and establish alliances that could benefit the region in subsequent elections.

“The issue is bigger than one election and bigger than one individual,” Ngoforo said.

He maintained that Obi could defer his presidential ambition without necessarily bringing his political journey to an end, arguing that the timing of political ambition was as important as the ambition itself.

Ngoforo said the proposed engagement with Igbo leaders would therefore focus on persuading Obi to reconsider his 2027 bid and explore a broader political arrangement that could position the Southeast for greater political gains in the years ahead.

He added that the central question for the Southeast should be how to convert present political alliances into long-term commitments capable of advancing the region’s interests.

The group’s position comes as political parties and interest groups intensify mobilisation ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Tinubu, Obi and other major political figures expected to feature prominently in the contest.

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