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| Dele Momodu |
Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, has urged opposition parties to unite and strategically play what he termed the “ethnic and religious cards” if they intend to mount a serious challenge against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
In a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, Momodu reacted to the ongoing wave of defections within the PDP — including those of Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, who joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, who recently resigned.
According to Momodu, the APC has now consolidated its dominance over Nigeria’s political landscape, controlling both the executive and legislative arms of government.
“Nigeria has comfortably, voluntarily, and predictably cruised senselessly into a one-party state… Both the executive and legislative arms finally crossed the Rubicon yesterday under the grip of the ruling party, APC,” he wrote.
Despite this, Momodu maintained that the opposition still has a narrow but possible route to competitiveness — through unity, strategic alliances, and regional balancing.
“The opposition has only one option left to remain competitive. Since Tinubu appears to have locked down the South, the opposition must work quickly to secure the North. With commonsense, this is feasible, though difficult,” he noted.
Momodu argued that no Southern candidate, including former President Goodluck Jonathan or Labour Party’s Peter Obi, could successfully challenge Tinubu in 2027 if they contest independently.
“I don’t see any Southern candidate giving Tinubu a tough fight — not former President Jonathan, not Peter Obi. If they run as independent figures, they will fail spectacularly,” he stated.
He therefore advised opposition parties to form a broad coalition, similar to the alliance that produced the APC in 2015, and to balance their ticket along regional and religious lines.
“If the opposition is serious and determined, it must unite and also play the ethnic and religious cards. They should field a formidable Northern Muslim presidential candidate with a popular Southern Christian running mate to counter Tinubu’s likely Muslim-Muslim ticket,” Momodu suggested.
Concluding his post, Momodu expressed optimism that “the game is not over,” but cautioned that the opposition must act swiftly and decisively, emphasizing that success would require candidates of “absolute necessity.”
2027: THE GAME AHEAD...
— Dele Momodu Ovation (@DeleMomodu) October 15, 2025
It is very tempting for any watcher, and analysts, of Nigerian politics, to assume, and conclude, and make a fiat prediction, that the game is over for the opposition leaders ahead of the 2027 Presidential election... In reality, Nigeria 🇳🇬 has…
