The Federal Government has dismissed claims by Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi and running mate Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso that President Bola Tinubu will be defeated in 2027, saying the All Progressives Congress (APC) remains confident of keeping the presidency.
Defence Minister Christopher Musa told Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday that the APC would win the presidential, governorship and other contests in Kaduna State. He rejected talk of a northern revolt as perception. “APC will win in Kaduna.
That I know,” he said, adding that the wins would come “at all levels.” He argued that some critics were whipping up sentiment because they were dissatisfied with their own position, and that the president’s painful economic decisions would be understood over time. “APC will win,” he concluded.
Hours earlier in Port Harcourt, Obi told an “Obi Talks Nigeria” town hall that nobody would intimidate voters at polling units. He said a typical booth has about five officials and 40 to 50 voters, so intimidation should not succeed if supporters are coordinated.
He warned that attempts to manipulate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing Portal would be harder in 2027 and said alternative channels would be used if the official portal failed. Kwankwaso said a sitting president with more than 30 governors can still lose, citing Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, and argued that many northern governors would struggle to campaign because of their record.
APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru called the opposition remarks cheap talk and noted that Muhammadu Buhari won re-election as a sitting president. He said the NDC lacked governorship candidates in at least 12 states. In Rivers, African Democratic Congress (ADC) spokesman Chizi Enyi dismissed Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike’s claim that the ADC and NDC would lose the state and Abuja, saying the party was campaigning while others, in its view, focused on electoral officers.
The exchange is a contest over two kinds of confidence: control of states versus control of the polling unit. Musa treats 2027 as a settled APC hold. Obi and Kwankwaso treat 2015 and 2023 as proof that machinery does not automatically convert into counted votes. Neither side has produced the election yet. What they have produced is the argument voters will hear until January.
