Reno Omokri has said that, whether as a presidential candidate or a running mate, Peter Obi will likely lose in two vital areas where he performed well in 2023: Lagos and the South-South.

Giving reasons, Omokri said Obi is not a leader but a trader who got lucky because the late Dim Emeka Ojukwu chose him as the APGA gubernatorial candidate in 2003.

He said that, having won the 2023 Lagos presidential election, Obi ought to have acted like a good politician by protecting his base.

"How could you have won Lagos because of the combined Lukumi Yoruba and Igbo vote, and then in 2025 say: 'Nigeria’s infrastructure investment remains excessively concentrated in Lagos, often at the expense of other(s)?' A good politician would not do that," Omokri said.

"What Obi, in essence, was saying to Lagosians who voted for him in 2023 is that if they repeat their voting pattern in 2027 and he wins, he would stop the infrastructural development of Lagos and take it elsewhere. That statement was a threat to the economic interests of Lagosians.

"Lagosians are sophisticated voters. They will never forget the unspoken threat implicit in Peter Obi's statement on Friday, October 24, 2025. You cannot expect people to vote against their own economic interests. That was the mistake our administration made on January 1, 2012.

"Then, President Jonathan was arguably the most popular President in Nigeria's history before that date, because Nigerians felt that this was a President they had chosen for themselves without a godfather. He became President by divine providence.
And then, when he did what was actually the right thing, at a time Nigerians considered wrong, by removing fuel subsidy on New Year's Day, the public turned against us, because many Nigerians were on holiday and had travelled and were suddenly stuck at their locations because, overnight, on New Year's Day, transportation prices soared.
That was how the opposition successfully infiltrated Nigerians and turned them against one of Nigeria's best governments in history.

"If we had waited until after the holidays for citizens to return home before acting, the situation might have been different.
Why? Because people do not vote against their own economic interests!

"And again, Peter Obi has substantial votes in the South-South, sinking in Cross River, Delta, and Edo.
A savvy politician would have seen the South-South as an extension of his base.
Right now, what is the South-South most excited about?

"Since the creation of Nigeria in 1914, the single largest infrastructural project cited in that geopolitical zone is the ₦15 trillion, 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

"Since the project is not being undertaken at the expense of Peter Obi's core base, the Southeast, it makes no political or economic sense for him to oppose a project that would benefit a zone he more or less won in 2023.

"But with his trader brain, Obi followed his instincts and said: 'Contrary to reason and the necessity for compassion in public policy, the federal government has commenced the controversial Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project. This is a moment when a committed government cannot embark on non-essential projects. Existing highways urgently need maintenance, and insecurity makes travel unsafe.'

"By coming out against a project that is popular in the region, one that would cut travel time to and from the South-South, and asking the President to cancel, how does Peter Obi expect the South-South to go against their own economic interests by voting for him?

"Why didn't Peter Obi ask the President to cancel the contract for the Southeastern railway corridor? It is like knowing that a man wants to cut your head and still going ahead to give him a machete!" Omokri said.

ASA