2027 Presidency: RHGN Seeks Ohanaeze, Anyaoku’s Help to Convince Peter Obi to Back Tinubu

The Southeast chapter of the Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN) says it will seek the intervention of prominent Igbo leaders to persuade Peter Obi to abandon his 2027 presidential bid and support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

Obi, a former governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), is being targeted by the group as part of its strategy to secure support for Tinubu across the Southeast.

The Southeast leader of RHGN, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, disclosed the plan in Owerri on Saturday after a meeting on efforts to deliver victory for Tinubu in every polling unit across the region’s five states.

Ngoforo said the group intends to engage the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo under Senator John Azuta Mbata, along with respected Igbo elder statesmen, including Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe.

He said the group would ask the leaders to form a delegation to meet Obi and appeal to him to reconsider his presidential ambition for 2027.

According to Ngoforo, the proposed intervention is not meant to diminish Obi’s standing or political relevance. Rather, he said, it is aimed at encouraging the former governor to place the broader, long-term interests of Ndigbo ahead of the immediate goal of securing the presidency.

He said Obi should consider whether a strategic political bargain involving the Southeast and Southwest could create a stronger pathway for the region to eventually secure the presidency.

Ngoforo said the Southeast should therefore focus on what it could gain by establishing a strategic relationship with the Southwest rather than treating the 2027 election as an isolated political contest.

He noted that Tinubu would have only one constitutional term remaining if he wins re-election, arguing that the Southeast could support the Southwest in 2027 while building a political compact capable of securing reciprocal political benefits when presidential power next returns to the South.

The RHGN leader said such an arrangement would allow Ndigbo to accumulate political goodwill and establish reciprocal obligations with other regions rather than viewing the 2027 election solely in terms of victory or defeat.

Ngoforo also urged Obi to consider stepping down from the 2027 race as a strategic postponement rather than abandoning his presidential ambition altogether.

“The issue is bigger than one election and bigger than one individual,” he said.

He maintained that the key political consideration for Ndigbo should be how to transform present-day alliances into a stronger political foundation for securing the presidency in the future.

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