Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
Oxford-trained entrepreneur and 2023 Labour Party candidate, Dr. Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh, has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to abandon any 2027 presidential ambition and instead play the role of “godfather of modern Nigeria,” warning that another run as an octogenarian would clash with today’s political realities.
Speaking recently, Dr. Ezeh said Atiku’s peak political moment was in 2019, and that pursuing another bid as an octogenarian would pit him against prevailing political realities.
“Atiku’s voting era was 2019. He ought not to have run in 2023. His greatest legacy now would be to serve as a godfather of modern Nigeria — guiding credible leaders to power rather than contesting again,” Ezeh stated.
Ezeh revisited his widely discussed essay “Mai gaskiya: Buhari’s 12.7 Million Votes and PO’s Anointing”, where he compared former President Muhammadu Buhari’s enduring political bloc to the surging popularity of the Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
He argued that Buhari’s strength rested on a cultivated image of honesty and frugality, while Obi’s appeal is founded on a “triple asset” — character, competence, and capacity to deliver.
“Nigeria wants a leader with integrity, but also one who has the skill and will to deliver results. Obi completes that circle,” he said.
Ezeh accused many South-East political elites of undermining Obi, not out of ideological differences, but due to personal ambition and fear of being sidelined in a new political order.
“There’s a wide gulf between the South-East elite and the people. The masses stand with Obi; the elites work against him,” Ezeh claimed, adding that such behaviour has weakened the region’s national standing.
He rejected the notion that the South-East should aim for a vice-presidential slot in 2027 as a stepping stone to the presidency, calling it a “shortcut trap” that would only entrench second-tier political relevance.
Ezeh noted that, unlike most opposition figures who vanish after election defeats, Obi has retained national relevance and political energy.
“Before now, after elections, everything usually goes quiet. But Obi has kept the momentum alive. That shows he’s the man of the moment,” he said.
The LP chieftain concluded that 2027 represents the best opportunity for the South-East and Nigeria as a whole to elect a president who embodies both integrity and capacity.