Katchy Ononuju, who previously served as a Special Adviser on Public Affairs to Peter Obi, has dismissed the ongoing discussions around a proposed coalition for Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election, describing it as an unrealistic idea destined to collapse.
According to Ononuju, any coalition that fails to zone the presidential ticket to the South and present Obi as its candidate will never gain acceptance. He argued that the alliance being touted was nothing more than a calculated move by allies of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Speaking in a recent interview, Ononuju asserted, “Coalition is just a dream, it’s an idea, it’s just a caucus of Atiku’s friends who are trying to preempt some PDP governors who are bent on zoning the Presidency to the South, so Atiku now gathered his people while trying to preempt what the governors will do. Before going to the meeting, they are telling you that Peter will be Vice President while Atiku will be President.”
Reflecting on the origins of the Obidient Movement, Ononuju noted that it was founded in protest against perceived injustice within Nigeria’s political zoning arrangement. “When I and Doyin Okupe founded the Obidient Movement, we founded it out of anger, it was in reaction to the disagreement of the North to allow the zoning to bring the Presidency to the South, and that was why we left to start the youth movement,” he recalled.
Ononuju went on to question the sincerity of those behind the new coalition talks, criticizing the premature offer of a vice-presidential slot to Obi. “So, if they are talking about us coming back together to resume opposition, you must do a post mortem to ask yourself what was the foundational reason why we broke away from the party to start the youth movement, then you now have a lot of Atiku’s Caucus people trying to bring Peter back.”
He firmly concluded that the effort was bound to fail. “I have told them that it will not work, you haven’t gotten him a ticket but you are offering him the VP slot, where is that done? That just tells you that this is a premeditated cooked up thing, it’s not going to work – take it from me, we do not accept it.”
