African Democratic Congress chieftain and former presidential candidate Dele Momodu has declared that President Bola Tinubu will lose the 2027 general election if former Vice President Atiku Abubakar runs on a joint ticket with a prominent southern politician such as Peter Obi or Rotimi Amaechi.
Momodu made the prediction yesterday during an appearance on Channels Television, arguing that a north-south coalition ticket centred on Atiku would decisively weaken the ruling All Progressives Congress’s grip on power.
“I believe if we have a combination of Atiku, maybe with Peter Obi, maybe with Rotimi Amaechi, or any other person that comes from the South, Tinubu will be gone. It will be the end of Tinubu’s foundation, not the APC,” he said.
Defending Atiku’s viability as a presidential candidate despite years of unsuccessful bids, Momodu drew a striking comparison with US President Donald Trump, arguing that persistence and preparation ultimately pay off in politics.
“From my analysis, Atiku Abubakar — even those who didn’t like Atiku before — now he’s smelling like roses, because the enemy of your enemy is your friend. He has prepared forever, just like Donald Trump was preparing forever. People said Donald Trump is old, and like a joke, he is doing his second term now,” Momodu said.
The ADC chieftain also took aim at what he described as Tinubu’s apparent desire to face a weakened opposition, warning that the growing wave of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC posed a serious threat to Nigeria’s democratic health.
“Tinubu wants to contest against himself, and it doesn’t make sense to me,” he said, describing the shrinking of the PDP as “a sad day for democracy.”
Atiku, Obi, and Amaechi — who ran under different party platforms in the 2023 elections — have since aligned within the ADC as part of a broad opposition coalition also featuring David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola, and Nasir El-Rufai. All three are widely regarded as potential presidential contenders under the ADC platform.
The party has scheduled its national convention for April 14, 2026, following ward and state congresses set to begin on April 7.
