OBIDIENTS VERSUS THE SENTIMENTS: A CASE FOR STRATEGIC UNITY IN 2027
By Aare Amerijoye DOT.B.
July 23, 2025
In a country like Nigeria, where sentiments often travel faster than reason, and emotion sometimes clouds the path of strategic foresight, the political space has become a theatre of both passion and paradox. Amidst this, a new tribe emerged in the 2023 general elections, the OBIdients , a combustible movement of youth-driven optimism, anti-establishment rage, and an unflinching belief in Mr. Peter Obi’s moral purity.
I must confess: the OBIdient movement was a fresh air of civic renaissance. It rattled the traditional machinery. It punctured the arrogance of old political warhorses. It screamed, tweeted, and rallied with an energy Nigeria hadn’t witnessed in decades. But as history constantly teaches us, revolution is not just about energy , it is about strategy, alliances, and timing. And now, as 2027 looms, the time has come to transition from mere momentum to mathematical certainty — the certainty that only an Atiku-Obi alliance can deliver.
I remember vividly , it was a Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti. The clouds hung low, pregnant with rain, as I sat with Benjamin Akomolafe, a former Manager of Sterling Bank, the CEO of House Eleven Hotel, and the OBIdients Coordinator in Ekiti. He is my brother, not by blood, but by vision. With eyes dimmed by years of loyal activism and a heart that beats for justice, Benjamin confided in me over a plate of warm pounded yam and egusi.
“Egbon,” he said, “I love Obi. I’ll go to battle for him. But honestly, I pray daily that he aligns with Atiku. That is the only way we can rescue this country from Tinubu’s brutal economic poetry ,a kind of governance that rhymes only with hunger and heartbreak.”
That evening, under the soft rumble of thunder, we reached a simple truth: the OBIdients may have the noise, but Atiku has the network. Obi has the fervour, but Atiku has the firepower. Obi is the moral compass, but Atiku holds the electoral map.
Let us strip off the sentiment and look analytically at the numbers from 2023. Obi secured over 6.1 million votes, a respectable feat, but not enough to clinch victory in a race where the winning margin was just under 9 million.
Let’s break down some of the key states:
Lagos: Obi won with 582,454 votes. A symbolic victory, yes. But Tinubu was close behind with 572,606. In other words, even in the supposed OBIdient capital, the margin was wafer-thin.
Anambra: Obi’s home state. Unsurprisingly, he took it with a wide margin. But electoral reality doesn’t revolve around hometown dominance.
Benue, FCT, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia ,Obi dominated. But many of these were traditional PDP strongholds, long disillusioned with the party’s internal issues. Obi merely capitalised on their frustration.
Plateau and Nasarawa: Here, the Christian vote tilted massively towards Obi, mostly out of fear of APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket, not solely due to OBIdient strategy.
Southern Kaduna, Jos North, and parts of Taraba: These were driven by ethnic-religious sentiments, not by structured OBIdient mobilisation.
Now let’s zoom into the North , the real electoral heartland of Nigeria. The place where presidencies are won or lost. In the North-West and North-East, Obi was virtually absent. Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi ,states that house a massive chunk of Nigeria’s voting population , had Obi polling less than 5% combined. In contrast, Atiku won 9 states in the North, and he should have won 11, if not for the high-wired rigging and electoral fraud in two key northern states.
Tinubu won only 7 northern states. Obi won just 2. And yet, some still fantasise that if the North locks down against Tinubu in 2027, it will swing to Obi? That is political hallucination at its finest. If the North decides to vote against Tinubu, it is not Obi they will back , it is Atiku, their son, their known quantity, the man who stood firm against the storm.
Meanwhile, Tinubu is now desperately trying to shore up his flanks in the South. He’s currying favour, buying loyalty, dishing appointments and contracts in exchange for silence. But as he scrambles, we must ask the hard question: how will Obi fare in all of this? What is his plan to overcome the Northern wall? Who will unlock the Sokoto votes? Who will breach the walls of Kebbi and Borno?
That is the reality.
And the only reasonable way forward , the only strategic escape from another cycle of regret , is simple: Obi and Atiku must be on the same ballot.
In truth, what carried Obi’s votes were PDP disaffection, youthful protest, and religious-ethnic sensitivities , not necessarily a solid national structure or a cross-ethnic coalition. His vote was emotional, not strategic. It was thunderous, but not tailored.
One cannot deny the passion of OBIdients. But passion, unguarded, can become a dagger to the heart of democracy. The unruly online conduct of many OBIdients, particularly their visceral hatred towards Atiku Abubakar, is not just politically unwise , it is historically dishonest.
Let me remind them: Obi served as Atiku’s running mate in 2019 and called him “the most prepared Nigerian to lead.” Has he suddenly become unprepared?
Even Obi himself, in his more honest moments, admits respect for Atiku’s national spread, financial war chest, and political longevity. Atiku did not become a national figure by luck. He earned it , through sweat, survival, and sacrifice. He built bridges where others built barriers.
To attack Atiku is to forget the stepping stone that brought Obi to national limelight. It is like biting the ladder after climbing it. Or cursing the compass while lost at sea.
Politics is not mathematics, but winning elections is. You don’t win on social media threads or in echo chambers. You win in the villages of Jigawa, the riverine towns of Bayelsa, the valleys of Taraba, and the deserts of Sokoto. That is Atiku’s terrain. That is where votes are harvested , not on Twitter Spaces.
An Obi-Atiku alliance will not be a marriage of desperation. It will be a fusion of moral legitimacy and structural depth, of passion and pragmatism, of the old and the new. It is not surrender , it is strategy. It is not a compromise , it is consensus.
Let the OBIdients hold their ideals. Let them demand accountability. But let them not turn their zeal into political naivety. Tinubu is no pushover. He is already plotting, already purchasing loyalties with your commonwealth. Only a united front , with Obi bringing in the conscience and Atiku bringing in the competence , can stop him.
I say this not just as a politician. I say this as a concerned Nigerian. As someone who sat under the dim light in Ado-Ekiti and listened to Benjamin Akomolafe voice his fears, hopes, and commitment to a better Nigeria.
To my dear OBIdients: you have started a fire. Now don’t let it burn the house we are all trying to build. Let it instead warm the coalition that will chase away this cold government of hardship. Obi cannot do it alone. Atiku cannot do it without you.
Together, it is possible. Divided, it is déjà vu.
Aare Amerijoye DOT.B.
Director General,
The Narrative Force