VIDEO: Tinubu Government Does Not Want Me To Be Candidate in 2027 – Peter Obi

Peter Obi says the Tinubu government does not want him to contest the 2027 election.

Philips News reports that the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has alleged that the Federal Government of Nigeria, led by President Bola Tinubu, does not want him to be a presidential candidate of any political party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, made this comment at the Obidient Conference in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, south-south Nigeria, on Saturday, January 14, 2026.

This newspaper understands that Obi was reacting to the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Labour Party (LP) National Working Committee (NWC) led by Nenadi Usman, months after he decamped from the party to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The electoral umpire indicated that the decision followed a court order mandating the electoral commission to do so. Checks on the INEC website as of Saturday showed that the umpire has now listed Usman as the caretaker committee chairperson of the Labour Party (INEC).

Other members of the NWC are Senator Darlington Nwokocha (National Secretary); Hamisu Santuraki (National Treasurer); Aisha Madije (National Financial Secretary), and Eric Ifere (National Legal Adviser.

On January 21, 2026, the Federal High Court, Abuja, recognised the Usman-led NWC of the Labour Party, sacking Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman.

The presiding judge, Justice Peter Lifu, based his action on the verdict of the Supreme Court declaring Nenadi as the authentic leader of the Labour Party

Justice Lifu asked INEC to recognise the Usman-led NWC as the party’s legally recognised authority until the conduct of the party’s next convention.

The presiding judge said the evidence before the court indicated that Abure’s tenure as Labour Party national chairman had ended.

While dismissing the matter as a non-justiciable internal party affair, he said the establishment of the Caretaker Committee was “a necessity” arising from the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling. ​

Speaking in Uyo on Saturday, Obi recalled that a judgment had been delivered on the Labour Party leadership crisis in April 2025, but that INEC refused to recognise the judgment despite submitting the judgment to the electoral umpire that same month.

Obi, who is said to enjoy support among Nigerian youths, stated that INEC’s failure to recognise the judgment when he was still a member of the Labour Party indicates that the Federal Government does not want him to be a presidential candidate in the forthcoming election in Nigeria.

The ADC cieftain, however, assured his supporters at the Obidient Conference in Uyo that he will be the candidate in the 2027 presidential election in Nigeria.

He said: “INEC will not take a decision. We went to court, got judgment in April, I personally, with other leaders of the party, went to deliver that judgment to INEC, everybody saw it. [sic]

“April 2025, that’s when we got the judgment. From April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, they said as long as I am there [Labour Party], if you don’t know today, the Federal government of Nigeria does not want me, Peter Obi, to be a candidate of any party, but I will be candidate,” Obi ascertained. [sic]

Watch Peter Obi speaking in Uyo below…

“The Federal Government of Nigeria does not want I Peter Obi to be candidate of any political party, But I will be a candidate ”
– Peter Obi speaking today in Uyo. pic.twitter.com/M3ra1JXFyu

— Chuks 🌍 (@chuks_CG) February 14, 2026