Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2027, has dropped hints about why he would not run in 2031.
Obi pointed out that there is very little likelihood of him contesting in 2031, noting that the zoning agreement between the North and the South would be a crucial factor.
In an interview with media personality Rufai Oseni, Obi explained that if the presidency goes to the North in 2031, he won’t be in a position to run again because he will be 78 years old by the time power rotates back to the South.
When asked if he would run for the presidency again if he loses in 2027, Obi said: “For me, it depends on what happens. I don’t want to say it because people might think that I’m saying it because of some people.
“You will not believe it, this morning a secondary school boy asked me a question this morning ‘if you run this time, will you run again?’ And I said no, he asked why?
“I said because if I don’t run now, by the next time it comes, believing in the zoning formula it will go to the North and if it goes North in 2031, by the time it comes again to the South, I will be 78 years old and I don’t think I would be doing this at that age.”
Peter Obi however pointed that if power remains in the South in 2027, he might contest for the presidency in 2031.
Atiku, Peter Obi On Their Own
APC chieftain and former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff recently stated that the North will not vote for Obi in 2027. He also noted that the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar is on his own.
He said, “I am not worried about Peter Obi at all because I know that Northerners will never vote for Peter Obi”
Further detailing his point, Sheriff noted that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar will also not get Northern support for the 2027 presidential election, insisting that power must remain in the South until 2031 in line with Nigeria’s unwritten rotational arrangement.
The APC chieftain maintained that no politician from the North should contest the 2027 presidency, arguing that Nigeria’s political leaders established an informal agreement to maintain regional balance in the nation’s leadership after the civil war.
He said, “After the civil war our leaders have said that there will no longer be this situation in Nigeria, there is a regional agreement. For Atiku, it’s not our time now. He is on his own because it is the turn for the South. Buhari just finished 8 years. If Atiku wants to be president he can wait, he is a leader in Northern Nigeria, he is eminently qualified but it is not our time now, he has to wait till 2031. That is the time for the North, for now, it is time for the South”.
Backstory…
Nigeria’s presidential zoning arrangement, though not backed by the Constitution, has become an influential political convention aimed at promoting inclusiveness among the country’s six geopolitical zones.
The informal principle encourages the presidency to rotate between the North and the South, with political parties often taking regional balance into account when selecting candidates.
Since the return to democracy in 1999, power has alternated between southern and northern presidents—from Olusegun Obasanjo (South-West) to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (North-West), Goodluck Jonathan (South-South), Muhammadu Buhari (North-West) and incumbent President Bola Tinubu (South-West).
With Tinubu expected to complete a second term if re-elected in 2027, political discussions have increasingly centred on the expectation that the presidency should return to the North in 2031, a factor that has shaped early succession debates and the calculations of major political actors, including Peter Obi.
Read Also: ‘I Might Not Be Alive in 2027 For 2027 Election’ — Obi
