LAGOS, Nigeria – The ruling All Progressives Congress on July 27, 2026, dismissed claims by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, that a joint presidential ticket of Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate Peter Obi and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, would defeat the ruling party in the 2027 presidential election.
Okay News reports that Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary for the All Progressives Congress, dismissed the former official’s comments entirely. “He said nothing that’s worth responding to,” Morka said.
Lawal stated during a weekend interview with Symfoni TV that a united ticket featuring Obi and Kwankwaso would possess a 70 percent chance of victory, while rating Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu at 50 percent and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar at zero. “Peter Obi, Kwankwaso, take note, I’m pairing them. I’m pairing them. Individually will be disaster, but I’m pairing them. So I’ll give them, on my scale, close to like 70 per cent. Again, Bola, 50. Atiku, zero,” Lawal said.
The former official asserted that Tinubu financed the party’s campaign in 2015 from his personal resources and hired American political consultants linked to former US President Barack Obama for over N2 billion (approximately $1.46 million). “I don’t know their names. I just know that they were Obama people, and they came and transformed our campaign, and I knew that the money he paid them was in excess of N2 billion, equivalent in dollars,” Lawal said.
A spokesman for the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Habeeb Saleh, stated the proposed alliance is a major concern for the ruling party, responding to claims by the former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, that the ticket would fail. “The Obi-Kwankwaso’s ticket is the APC’s greatest nightmare. The more they attack it, the more they remind Nigerians that it is the alliance they fear the most,” Saleh said.
Former political adviser to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Akin Osuntokun, stated during an interview on Arise News that Obasanjo brokered the ticket between Obi and Kwankwaso. “Obi and Kwankwaso is a much more realistic, more compelling ticket than the 2023 one,” Osuntokun said.
Obi stated during an interview on Channels Television that he intends to serve only a single four-year term if elected in 2027, confirming earlier statements by Kwankwaso. “I have repeated that I would serve for four years and not a day more,” Obi said.
