Former African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, has alleged that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan offered former Labour Party flagbearer, Peter Obi, the position of Coordinating Minister of the Economy if he agreed to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race and support Jonathan’s return bid.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Kachikwu claimed that some powerful northern political interests are pushing Jonathan into the race to weaken the South’s chances in 2027. He alleged that Obi was told he could never secure enough votes from the North because of his Igbo ethnicity.
“In order to weaken the South, they have now drafted in former President Jonathan into the race, who is alleged to be offering Peter Obi the position of Coordinating Minister of the Economy for him to support his ambition,” Kachikwu said.
The former ADC candidate accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a small group of northern elites of holding political power for decades without improving the lives of their people, leaving the region with high levels of poverty and illiteracy.
Kachikwu further alleged that these elites use “region, religion, language, tribe, and poverty” as tools to control millions of poor northerners, convincing them that President Bola Tinubu and other southern leaders are to blame for their suffering.
He claimed that “Peter Obi has been told in very clear terms that he will never get northern votes as an Igbo man, and should instead agree to be Atiku’s running mate.”
Calling for unity, Kachikwu urged Nigerians to “resist former vice president Atiku and his co-travellers who don’t believe in an equitable Nigeria.”
“We don’t burn our houses because we want to kill rats and cockroaches; sometimes we just need to make our houses clean so that rats and cockroaches leave on their own. My earnest prayer is that Nigeria will soon work for every one of us,” he added.
