Jonathan Allegedly Offers Obi Ministerial Role to Step Down in 2027 – Kachikwu Claims

|By Adejumo Adekunle

Former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has alleged that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan is pushing a deal to make Peter Obi Coordinating Minister of the Economy if the Labour Party leader agrees to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race and back Jonathan’s own bid.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Kachikwu claimed the proposal is part of a broader political arrangement driven by Northern power brokers to weaken Southern political influence.

“In order to weaken the South, they have now drafted in former President Jonathan into the race, who is alleged to be offering Peter Obi the position of Coordinating Minister of the Economy for him to support his ambition,” Kachikwu stated.

He further alleged that Obi had been warned his chances of winning Northern votes were slim because of his Igbo heritage and was instead advised to accept a vice-presidential slot under former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

“A Peter Obi has been told in very clear terms that he will never get Northern votes as an Ibo man, and as such, he should accept to be Atiku’s running mate,” he said.

Kachikwu accused Atiku and certain Northern elites of holding political power for decades without addressing widespread poverty and illiteracy in the region.

“They use the weapons of region, religion, tongue, tribe, and poverty as they convince millions of poor Northerners that a southern President Tinubu hates them and is the cause of their poverty,” he alleged.

He also condemned what he described as the deliberate spread of false information targeting President Bola Tinubu and other Southern presidential hopefuls, urging Nigerians to resist divisive politics.

“We must all come to equity with clean hands and sincerity of purpose. We don’t burn our houses because we want to kill rats and cockroaches; sometimes we just need to make our houses clean so that rats and cockroaches leave on their own,” Kachikwu said.

He concluded with a call for unity, expressing hope that “Nigeria will soon work for everyone of us.”