2027: Intrigues as Northern bigwigs weigh Obi/Kwankwaso ticket

… Analysts divided as ‘deportation’ controversy rages

Fresh political intrigue has emerged ahead of the 2027 presidential election as influential northern political figures have revived allegations that Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), deported northerners while serving as governor of Anambra State.

Obi, who governed Anambra State from 2006 to 2014, is seeking the presidency after losing the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) to President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He is contesting the 2027 election on the platform of the NDC with Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Kano State governor, as his running mate.

The controversy first resurfaced on May 7, 2026, when Usman Yusuf, former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), declared during an interview on Trust TV that the North would “interrogate” Obi’s record in office.

“The evil that men do lives after them. The good is often interred with their bones. We are going to interrogate and question Peter Obi’s tenure when he was governor of Anambra State. What he did to northerners. He deported them. He even made them have an ID card,” Yusuf alleged.

Yusuf argued that Obi’s alliance with Kwankwaso would not erase what he described as unresolved questions about Obi’s stewardship.

“It is this same Kwankwaso that had to fly to Awka and warn them to be careful because there are more Igbo people living peacefully in Kano than northerners across the South-East. So he will come to the North now and explain to us. We have his record to interrogate,” he added.

The allegation refers to reports during Obi’s administration that some destitute persons were relocated from Anambra State. However, the claim has remained disputed.

On May 20, 2026, Kwankwaso firmly rejected Yusuf’s account, insisting the incident neither happened in Anambra nor involved Obi. “It didn’t happen in Anambra, and it didn’t involve Peter Obi; it happened in Imo State. I am Rabiu Kwankwaso, and I was the one who handled that situation,” Kwankwaso said.

Four days later, on May 24, 2026, the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) dismissed the allegations as “baseless, malicious and politically motivated.”

In a statement signed by Ibrahim Umar, spokesman of POMR, the organisation described claims that Obi deported northerners as utterly unfounded.

“There was never any form of expulsion or ethnic cleansing. Instead, there was a structured social rehabilitation programme for vulnerable persons from different parts of Nigeria,” the statement said.

The media office further argued that Obi maintained cordial relations with northern residents and the Muslim community throughout his administration, accusing political opponents of reviving ethnic narratives to weaken his presidential ambition.

Obi has consistently denied allegations that he deported northerners during his tenure as governor of Anambra State.

Despite those rebuttals, the issue has continued to feature prominently in political discourse.
Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode previously accused Obi of “shipping” northerners out of Anambra, while Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), questioned Obi’s recent pledge to prioritise northern development.

“Obi wants to belatedly start pleasing the North. Is it not the same Obi who put northerners inside buses and repatriated them to the North?” Sowore asked.

The controversy gained renewed momentum on Monday after former Borno State governor and APC chieftain Ali Modu Sheriff said Obi would struggle to win northern support in 2027.

Speaking on Channels Television, Sheriff argued that the political atmosphere had changed since the 2023 election, when Obi secured significant votes in Plateau and Nasarawa states.

“I am not worried about Peter Obi because I know northerners will never vote for him. When Peter Obi was governor, he chased northerners out of Anambra State,” Sheriff alleged. He also claimed that supporters of Kwankwaso in Kano were uncomfortable with any political alliance involving Obi.

Reacting to the development, Chief Chekwas Okorie, elder statesman and former presidential candidate, dismissed the allegations as recycled propaganda that would not affect Obi’s electoral prospects.

“If anything like that happened, Kwankwaso, a prominent northern politician and respected Muslim, would never have agreed to be his running mate. I have continued to ask for evidence, and nobody has produced any,” Okorie told BusinessDay.

According to him, no Igbo governor would deliberately pursue policies capable of alienating northerners because of the millions of Igbo people residing across northern states.

“It is the worst policy any Igbo governor would ever want to enact. What would Peter Obi stand to gain? Igbo people have always demonstrated accommodation. It is not in our character,” he said.

Okorie maintained that the allegations lack credibility because no documentary evidence or victims have been presented.
“If Obi ever made such a statement, where is the record? The internet does not lie. Nobody has produced any evidence or any victim of such a policy,” he argued.

He further recalled that Obi supported the Muslim community while in office, citing the construction of a mosque in Onitsha and assistance to Muslim pilgrims.

“I don’t think it will affect his chances. The younger generation of northerners is more educated and sees through this kind of propaganda. That old style of politics will not work today,” he added.

However, Jackson Lekan Ojo, a political analyst, offered a sharply different assessment, saying the allegations, whether substantiated or not, could significantly damage Obi’s electoral fortunes in Northern Nigeria.

“The allegations are spreading like wildfire in the North and will affect Obi adversely. If he cannot make significant inroads in the 19 northern states and is also uncertain of strong support in the South-West and South-South, his chances are very slim,” Ojo told BusinessDay.

Ojo said the race is increasingly narrowing to President Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) with Obi facing mounting political obstacles.

“I believe it is not too late for Obi to suspend his presidential ambition and support Atiku. Going into the election alone will attract serious resistance in the North,” Ojo said.

With political campaigns yet to formally begin, the renewed debate illustrates how past records, competing narratives and regional perceptions are already becoming defining factors in the battle for the 2027 presidency.