A Southeast-based support group for President Bola Tinubu says it will enlist prominent Igbo leaders to persuade Peter Obi to step back from the 2027 presidential race.
The Southeast Coordinator of the Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN), Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, disclosed this in Owerri, Imo State, on Saturday, after a meeting with members of the group.
Ngoforo said RHGN would approach the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership under Senator John Azuta-Mbata, along with elder statesmen including former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku and former Chief of Naval Staff Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, to form a delegation that would appeal directly to Obi.
He said the planned intervention is not meant to diminish Obi’s standing or popularity, but to get him to weigh whether stepping aside in 2027 would serve the Southeast’s long-term interests better than an immediate presidential run.
According to Ngoforo, the region should think beyond a single election cycle and instead build strategic alliances — particularly with the Southwest — to strengthen its chances of producing a president in a future cycle.
He noted that if Tinubu wins a second term in 2027, constitutional term limits would restrict him to that one additional term, creating room for the Southeast to negotiate reciprocal political commitments ahead of the next rotation of power within the South.
Ngoforo described a possible Obi withdrawal as a “strategic postponement” rather than a abandonment of his ambition, arguing it would buy the Southeast time to secure alliances and position itself for a stronger future bid.
“The issue is bigger than one election and bigger than one individual,” he said, adding that the focus should be on converting existing political alliances into concrete gains for the region.
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