Northerners won't support Peter Obi - Ex-Borno governor Sheriff

A former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, has said Peter Obi will not win the 2027 presidential election. He believes Obi will have a hard time getting support from Northern Nigeria.

Sheriff spoke on Monday during a show called Politics Today on Channels Television. He also defended President Bola Tinubu’s approach to national security and said the APC would keep power in the next election.

Obi, who ran for president in 2023 with the Labour Party and came third with over six million votes, plans to run again in 2027 under the Nigeria Democratic Congress.

Despite Obi's showing in the last election, Sheriff said the former governor has a slim chance of winning in the North. "I am not worried about Peter Obi because I know Northerners will never vote for him," he stated.

Sheriff was reminded that Obi got good votes in Plateau and Nasarawa during the last election. He insisted that the political scene has changed since then.

He claimed that many Northerners still have issues with Obi's time as governor of Anambra State. "The situation is different now. When Peter Obi was governor, he chased Northerners out of Anambra State," Sheriff alleged.

He also mentioned that some supporters of former Kano State governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso are not happy with the idea of an alliance with Obi. "This is what people in Kano are telling Kwankwaso now. They say they have always supported him and will continue to do so if he contests for president, but they will not support him if he aligns with Peter Obi," he said.

Sheriff dismissed Obi's recent criticisms of President Bola Tinubu about the security issues in the country. Obi has often accused Tinubu’s government of not handling insecurity well and has suggested that the President should step down if he cannot keep Nigerians safe.

In response to Obi's comments, Sheriff said the security problems started long before the current government. He believes Tinubu should be judged on what his government is doing to fix these issues. "We should not simply condemn the President because there is insecurity in Nigeria," he said.

He pointed out that the government is trying to strengthen security with plans to introduce state police.

Sheriff also downplayed the chances of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is expected to run with the African Democratic Congress. He believes power should stay in the South until 2031.

According to Sheriff, Nigeria’s leaders agreed after the civil war to balance power by rotating the presidency between the North and the South. "After the civil war, our leaders agreed that Nigeria should not continue on the old path. There is an understanding about regional balance."

He added, "For Atiku, this is not the North’s turn. He is a respected leader and eminently qualified, but he has to wait until 2031. President Buhari completed eight years in office, so it is now the South’s turn," he said.

Sheriff is hopeful that Tinubu will win re-election in 2027. But he emphasized that the APC must campaign actively instead of assuming victory is certain.