Oshiomhole: Atiku, Obi have lost together and apart — 2027 won’t be different

Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, says former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, ex-governor of Anambra, stand no chance in the 2027 presidential election.

Oshiomhole, who spoke on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme, said both opposition figures have a record of electoral defeat — together and individually — against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said their alliance in 2019, as well as their separate bids in 2023, failed to upstage the APC and that the outcome would be no different in 2027.

“Did Atiku not run with Obi before and contested against the APC? Were they not defeated?” Oshiomhole asked.

“Throw any number (results of the polls) you want to throw; the point is that when these two ran together, they were roundly defeated by the APC.

“They have a history of being defeated together and they have a history of being defeated apart. So, if they come back together, they will still be defeated.”

In the 2019 presidential election, Abubakar ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with Obi as his running mate. The pair lost the poll to then incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

Abubakar contested the 2023 presidential election as the candidate of the PDP, while Obi ran on the platform of the LP.

The two, now part of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition, jointly secured more than 12 million votes in the last election, finishing behind President Bola Tinubu of the APC.