Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Policy, has warned Peter Obi of the Labour Party against accepting a vice presidential slot in the 2027 election.

Bwala believes that such a move would be a grave mistake, potentially causing Obi to lose the majority of his supporters, known as the Obidients.

What Bwala told Peter Obi

According to Bwala, the Obidients' support for Obi is contingent on his presidential ambitions. He stated that Obi's followers have a contractual understanding with him that he will run for president, and accepting a vice presidential role would undermine their trust.

The Tribune reported that Bwala opined that Obi would be making a huge mistake by accepting a vice presidential position.

He believes that Obi's supporters would abandon him if he drops his presidential aspirations.

Bwala's warning comes as a caution to Obi, suggesting that he would be uncomfortable in a vice presidential arrangement.

He emphasized that Obi's supporters would likely lose trust in him if he accepts a role that contradicts their expectations.

The presidential aide made these remarks while speaking on a television interview, expressing his confidence that Obi would lose a significant portion of his followers if he accepts a vice presidential slot.

How Peter Obi performed in 2023 election

Obi had made a statement in the 2023 presidential election where he came distance third with over six million votes. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Atiku Abubakar, the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election. His supporters spread across the country and gathered almost all the votes in the southeast region.

Though President Bola Tinubu, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner of the poll with over eight million votes, Obi, however, defeated Tinubu in Lagos, which is considered the president's stronghold.

Bwala's comment was spurred out of the coalition call by opposition leaders, including the former Vice President Atiku and the immediate past Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state. The opposition leaders have consistently insisted that President Tinubu can only be defeated through coalition.