Labour Party National Vice President, South-West, Abayomi Arabambi, has described former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the only serious contender capable of challenging President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Arabambi made the assertion on Thursday during an interview on TVC’s Politics Tonight, while assessing the emerging political landscape ahead of the election.
According to him, Atiku remains the only candidate he considers ready to mount a serious challenge against the incumbent.
“We have a sitting president that is one, and we have only one contender against the president. The only contender we have that I know is serious to slug it out with the incumbent is Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,” Arabambi said.
He, however, dismissed the possibility of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), contesting the 2027 election, describing him as a political figure more interested in commenting on issues than seeking the presidency.
“When you look at Peter Obi, you know that one for every reason known to Nigerians, Is just the chief content creator,” he said.
Arabambi also criticised Obi’s use of statistics in discussing national issues, alleging that some of the figures he cites have subsequently been found to be inaccurate.
“He’s a man, who comes with all manner of statistics that you now find out to be false,” the Labour Party chieftain said.
He further claimed that Obi was not preparing to contest the 2027 presidential election, saying the leadership of the opposition movement was aware of his position.
“He’s not contesting, even their leader know Obi is not contesting. All of you are going to replay what I said today. He’s not contesting. He knew why he went out there,” Arabambi said.
The Labour Party chieftain also addressed the argument over the zoning of the presidency ahead of the 2027 poll.
He said the presidency was currently zoned to the South, arguing that the region should be allowed to complete its eight-year tenure before power returns to another region.
“But for now, the presidency has been zoned to the south,” he said.
Arabambi recalled that Atiku contested the 2023 presidential election after the completion of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure but failed to secure the presidency.
“In 2023, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came out to say he wanted to run after the eight years of former President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians, in their own opinion, said, ‘let’s give it to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. As far as I’m concerned, the South need to complete our eight years,’” he said.
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