A pro-Tinubu support group, Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN), has disclosed plans to visit the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide as part of a broader effort to persuade Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), to step down from the 2027 race and back President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid instead.
Announcing the plan in Owerri at the weekend, RHGN’s Deputy National Leader (Southeast), Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, said the group was finalising arrangements to lead a delegation to Ohanaeze — drawing in its president, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, alongside elder statesmen such as Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe — to make the case to Obi directly in the coming days.
It is a striking proposal, and one that raises a question many Nigerians are already asking out loud: is this a suicide mission for Tinubu?
For much of the run-up to 2027, Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have faced persistent allegations from opposition circles that they were quietly benefiting from — if not actively encouraging — disunity among Nigeria’s opposition figures. Critics have long argued that a fragmented field works squarely in the ruling party’s favour, and that APC had little incentive to see Atiku Abubakar, Obi, and others unite under one platform.
That backdrop makes the planned Ohanaeze visit look, at first glance, contradictory. If the accusation has always been that Tinubu benefits from a divided opposition, why would a group aligned with him now be working — through one of Igboland’s most influential socio-political bodies — to remove one of the most prominent opposition figures from the race entirely? Obi’s 2023 showing demonstrated real electoral pull, particularly among younger voters and across the Southeast and South-South.
The answer RHGN offers leans on regional arithmetic rather than national contest logic. Ngoforo’s pitch to Ohanaeze is essentially transactional: trade a 2027 presidential run for a “political debt” that Tinubu and the Southwest will supposedly honour when power next rotates back to the Southeast. It’s a long game dressed up as strategy — one that conveniently also removes a credible vote-splitter (or vote-consolidator) from the field.
Beneath the stated goal sits what could be the more revealing detail. Ngoforo’s case to Ohanaeze doesn’t just argue for Obi’s withdrawal from the presidential race — it builds toward dismantling his viability on any national ticket. He points to internal disarray within the NDC over candidate selection across the Southeast, and argues that northern political interests are unlikely to rally behind a politician who has only promised a single term in office.
Read closely, that messaging seems engineered to pre-empt not just a solo Obi presidential bid, but an Obi vice-presidential slot alongside Atiku Abubakar — a pairing that has long fuelled opposition-unity speculation. If that reading holds, the real objective of courting Ohanaeze isn’t reciprocal Southeast goodwill down the line. It’s ensuring Obi is nowhere on a unified opposition ticket, full stop — neither as presidential flagbearer nor as running mate.
RHGN also cited what it called policy alignment between Obi and the Tinubu administration — pointing to the removal of the fuel subsidy — arguing that if Obi agrees with the substance of government policy, there is little justification for him to keep contesting against that same government.
Whether Ohanaeze’s leadership, the broader Igbo political establishment, or Obi himself will entertain this overture remains to be seen — reaction from the NDC camp has not yet been reported. But by routing the pitch through Ohanaeze rather than Obi directly, Tinubu’s camp is betting on regional institutional weight to do what direct political persuasion might not.
Interesting days lie ahead in determining what Tinubu actually stands to gain from this move — and whether courting Ohanaeze strengthens his path to a second term or simply hands his critics fresh ammunition.
Based on reporting by Israel Arogbonlo, Tribune Online.
