ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJ)- The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Atiku Abubakar’s campaign has projected that the former vice president will secure all 19 states in the North and pick three states in the Southwest in the 2027 election.
The spokesperson for the Atiku campaign, Kenneth Okonkwo, made the projection while assessing the chances of the major presidential contenders on AIT’s Democracy Today.
Okonkwo said the African Democratic Congress, ADC, platform on which Atiku is expected to contest, had already established a strong foothold across the northern region.
“Let me tell you the path to victory for Atiku. The 19 states of the north have fallen for ADC. Settled,” he said.
He argued that dissatisfaction with the economic situation under President Bola Tinubu was driving voters towards the opposition, pointing particularly to the gap between the minimum wage and the rising cost of petrol.
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“This government is irrational from their decisions. They are anti-people, and the people have gotten the message because you’re paying somebody 70,000 as minimum wage, and fuel is almost N1,500,” Okonkwo said.
He maintained that workers were being squeezed by the rising cost of living, noting that a N70,000 monthly wage could barely cover basic expenses.
“Your 70,000 can no longer afford you half-tank if your tank is 100 liter without rent, without food,” he added.
While projecting a clean sweep of the North, Okonkwo said the opposition was also targeting three states in the Southwest.
He listed Osun, Ondo and Ogun as the states where Atiku’s campaign believed it had realistic chances of victory.
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“In the Southwest, we most likely get three states. We may win Osun. We won Osun last time in 2023,” he said.
The campaign spokesperson attributed the expected gains in Ondo and Ogun partly to what he described as internal problems within the APC in both states.
“Then Ondo, because there are a lot of crises in the APC. Yes, Ogun. There are a lot of crises,” he said.
Okonkwo also dismissed the strength of Tinubu’s political base in Lagos, despite the state’s longstanding association with the President.
“The Tinubu has never been popular in Lagos,” he said.
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The Atiku campaign is also banking on support in the South-South, with Okonkwo predicting that the opposition would win more than two states in the region.
He said the choice of Atiku’s running mate would be central to the campaign’s strategy, particularly because of the expectation that voters could be encouraged to support a candidate from their region.
“South South, we are going to win in some states, and we’re going to get more than two,” he said.
Okonkwo further claimed that Atiku would secure at least 25 per cent of the vote in each of the six South-South states.
“Then we’re going to get more than 25 percent in all the South-South states because who will not like their own son to be vice president?”
His projections come as the major political blocs step up mobilisation ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Atiku expected to contest on the ADC platform as opposition parties seek to build a stronger challenge to Tinubu.