Amid ongoing strategic political maneuverings ahead of the 2027 general elections, signs are growing stronger that former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, may be on his way back to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
This comes as the PDP, in a major move to rebuild its fractured ranks, has zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria—a decision many see as a calculated invitation to Obi.
The PDP’s internal reconciliation process, led by former Senate President Bukola Saraki, is intensifying efforts to bring back high-profile members who left the party due to past disagreements. Among them is Obi, who was the party’s vice-presidential candidate in 2019 before decamping to the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 elections.
Political observers believe the Saraki-led peace efforts may record their most consequential success yet if they manage to secure Obi’s return.
Obi, widely credited with mobilizing Nigerian youth under the Obidient Movement in 2023, came third in that year’s presidential race behind PDP’s Atiku Abubakar and the eventual winner, President Bola Tinubu of the APC. Despite his involvement in recent coalition talks under the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Obi has insisted he remains a member of the Labour Party.
Yet, the groundwork for a possible return appears to be in motion. According to his former Special Adviser on Public Affairs during the 2023 election, Katchy Ononuju, the PDP’s new commitment to zoning could pave the way for Obi’s re-entry.
“What I can tell you is very simple. What caused the crisis, as I told you earlier, was that our party’s NWC got compromised and they refused to zone and that was why we left to start the youth movement,” Ononuju said in an interview with an online new platform.
“They have reached out to us that the Bukola Saraki committee said that they should zone to the South as a way to try to bring us back and make peace… So right now the party has agreed to zone, they made that announcement last week at the NAF Conference Centre and based on that a lot of them have been talking to Peter Obi,” he added.
Ononuju confirmed that Obi had met with Babangida Aliyu recently and that consultations are ongoing. He also took a swipe at political figures he deemed not integral to the movement, asserting, “That is why I told you that someone like Kenneth Okonkwo is not part of us, he is a member of the APC… we who are members of the PDP – me and Peter – who, out of them refusing to zone, we left…”
He continued: “So what you are hearing is true, the PDP is making a very strong move to bring us back… We want them to understand that as far as we are concerned, the presidential pendulum should swing between the North and the South.”
Addressing the implications for other political platforms, Ononuju remarked: “What I said to people was that the minute we decide on a platform, that Ruga called ADC will collapse… anything can happen. As I said earlier, a week and month is a long time in politics.”
On potential collaboration between PDP and ADC, should both zone their ticket southward, he stated: “If they zone and the ADC zone, then we will tell the ADC to come back and reunite with the PDP… If we get back to PDP, we can make peace and repair the stage that seems to have been balkanized by Buccaneers by Wike and so…”
As 2027 approaches, the political space is heating up with new coalitions forming and old alliances being tested. Obi’s next move may not only shape his political trajectory but could redefine the balance of power among Nigeria’s opposition forces.
