As activities in the first main stanza of the 2027 General Election move to their crescendo, time seems to be running out for presidential hopeful and candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, Peter Gregory Obi. The former governor of Anambra State (2006-2014) has iterated he’s gunning “only” for Nigeria’s presidency.
In that regard, the voting public expect him to demonstrate the capacity, and claim the primary of the crisis-riven African Democratic Congress (ADC) or downgrade his ambition to pair with whoever emerges the flagbearer from Northern Nigeria on the party platform.
Besides the 2026 Electoral Act (as amended) forbidding an aspirant to “belong” to or straddle two or more political parties – or jump to a “plac-eholder” after losing the primary in their original party for the same position – the LP’s procedures, as per the Act, close the “backdoor” to Obi’s return to the party he ran out on amid internal schism.
Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026 provides as follows: “(1) A political party registered under this Act shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue and be sued in its corporate name. (2) A party shall maintain a digital register of its members containing the name, sex, date of birth, address, State, Local Government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number and photograph in both hard and soft copies.
“(3) Upon registration, a membership card shall be issued to the member. (4) Each political party shall make such register available to the Commission not later than 21 days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses or conventions. (5) Only members whose names are contained in the register shall be eligible to vote and be voted for in party primaries, congresses and conventions.
“(6) A political party shall not use any other register for party primaries, congresses and conventions except the register submitted to the Commission. (7) A party that fails to submit the membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate for that election.”
Will Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026 ensnare Obi, or any other aspirant seeking to switch camps after losing the primary of another political party? Columnist Enyinnaya Appolos thinks so! He explains how in a piece in TheEagleOnline of March 8, 2026, titled, “2027: How Section 77 could frustrate aspirants as post-primary defection window closes.”
Mr Appolos stresses that the real change in the 2026 amendment isn’t in Section 60 (electronic transmission of results), but in Section 77, and that “very soon, politicians with ambitions for 2027 will come to realise this,” noting that, “the section requires every registered political party to maintain both physical and digital registers of its members.”
“In essence, the section mandates political parties to maintain a comprehensive digital register of their members and submit such a register to INEC not later than 21 days before conducting their primaries, congresses, or conventions,” he says.
“Once all political parties have submitted their membership registers to INEC 21 days before primaries, the membership composition of each party becomes fixed for that electoral cycle. And case closed. Anyone who is not already captured in a party’s digital register cannot suddenly emerge as a member eligible to contest that party’s primary.
“Since it is legally impossible to belong to two political parties at the same time, this provision may significantly cure, and potentially end, the culture of political decampment for ticket acquisition. Once a candidate loses the nomination of his party, his aspiration for that electoral cycle effectively ends until the next election. That is the implication,” he adds.
Also running a “fact check” on claims that the Electoral Act 2026 bars politicians from decamping after party primaries, Destiny Young, Publisher/Chief Content Strategist, AkwaIbomTimes, notes that, “In effect, the law does not entirely outlaw defection after primaries, but it makes it far less useful for anyone seeking to emerge as a valid candidate in another party after losing out in the first round.”
“What the Act clearly achieves is this: It forces aspirants to make their political choices earlier. It reduces the room for emergency defections after primaries. It tightens party processes. It places greater weight on compliance with timelines and official records. For politicians who once relied on late moves between parties to stay in the race, the Electoral Act 2026 has made that strategy far more difficult to sustain,” Mr Young said.
Former Minister of Finance, Nenadi Usman, following the Appeal Court decision in Abuja on April 20, 2026 – which concurred with the judgments of the Supreme Court on April 4, 2025, and a Federal High Court in Abuja on January 21, 2026, declaring her as the duly-recognised leader of the LP – spoke about the possibility of Obi coming back to the party.
In an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ on April 22, 2026, Mrs Usman, noted that given the provisions of the 2026 Electoral Act, and LP’s procedures, it’d be too late for Obi to get the party ticket via the “backdoor.”
“Well, it will be too late, actually, for him to come back because, if you look at the (2026 Electoral) Act now, at some point, we close the register. And once we close the register 21 days before primaries, (and) submit the e-register to INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission), you can’t come from behind the door (what Obi did in 2022) for us to register you and for you to contest.”
Obi did a “Ben Johnson” (100-metre dash) in June 2022 when he realised he’s no match for Atiku for the PDP ticket, and in Obi’s words, he “joined” and not “defected” to the LP, which graciously gave him its ticket to contest the February 25, 2023, presidential poll.
In a surprising outcome, Obi not only secured a third position behind Atiku – whom he paired as vice-presidential candidate in the 2019 poll – but also defeated then-APC’s candidate, now President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his residential stronghold of Lagos State by 582,454 votes (45.81%) to 572,606 votes (45.04%) – a margin of lead of 9,848 votes.
Buoyed by that “historic outing,” Obi aims again for President in 2027, dismissing suggestions that he’s aspiring to be Atiku’s running mate, as in 2019, hence he allegedly wants the ADC ticket zoned to Southern Nigeria, where he relishes defeating other regional aspirants at the primary.
Obi and his handlers appear to’ve devised a means to beat Atiku in his own game, by floating to pair him with former Kano Governor and candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in 2023, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to fight for the ADC ticket.
The cult-like supporters of Obi in the “Obidient Movement” and followers of Kwankwaso in the “Kwankwasiyya Movement” on Monday, April 20, 2026, in Abuja, formed the “Obi-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement,” claiming to’ve established structures, and appointed state and zonal coordinators in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to drive its mobilisation, PUNCH reported on April 20, 2026.
In a statement, the National Publicity Secretary of the movement, Justin Ijeh, said the initiative, “a coalition of political forces” comprising the Obidient Movement, Kwankwasiyya, the NNPP and ADC, “is more than a political milestone; it is the birth of a coordinated, nationwide engine for systemic reform and national rebirth.”
“Nigeria stands at a defining crossroads. Today, as our people endure the weight of unprecedented economic hardship, the soaring cost of living, and the persistent shadow of insecurity, the Obi-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement formally announces the unveiling of its national and state structures,” Mr Ijeh said.
The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Dr Yunusa Tanko, confirmed that the OK Movement was working in alignment with the Obi support structures toward a joint ADC presidential ticket, saying, “Ijeh and others are some of our people. There is no division. Both the OK Movement and The Village Boys Movement are working for the same purpose.”
Will the OK Movement realise Mr Obi’s quest to be President of Nigeria by “snatching” the ticket of the self-styled “main oppostion” ADC from Atiku’s grips, and confronting President Tinubu and his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the January 16, 2027, poll that an ADC chieftain and former presidential aspirant, Chief Dele Momodu’s described as “a war” for which he’s rousing the youths to approach it as such?
Obi’s a herculean task, as there’s no room for error or manoeuvre, or a possible return to the Labour Party for its ticket. Yet, if his outing in 2023 is any guide, coupled with the Obidient and Kwankwasiyya movements’ synergy behind his ambition, the 2027 bid may produce a more promising placing in the presidential log. Good luck to him, beginning with the ADC primary in May 2026!
• Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria. Can be reached on X, Threads, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp @EhichioyaEzomon. Tel: 08033078357.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
