A former political adviser to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Akin Osuntokun, has described the presidential ticket pairing Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso as far more realistic and compelling than the Labour Party’s 2023 arrangement.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Sunday, Osuntokun said the alliance, which he claimed Obasanjo helped broker, would stand a stronger chance in the 2027 presidential election because of Kwankwaso’s political influence, particularly in Kano State.

“Obi and Kwankwaso is a much more realistic, more compelling ticket than the 2023 one,” Osuntokun said.

He added that Kwankwaso’s political base would be “a big bonus” for the ticket.

Osuntokun dismissed suggestions that Obasanjo’s recent letter replying to former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba was intended to benefit President Bola Tinubu politically.

He maintained that his former principal remained critical of Tinubu’s administration and was instead backing the proposed Obi-Kwankwaso alliance.

“Look, Obasanjo is critical of Tinubu. If you can say that Obasanjo is supporting any ticket, it is Peter Obi and Kwankwaso. As a matter of fact, he is the main sponsor of that ticket,” he said.

According to Osuntokun, Obasanjo personally brought both politicians together.

“He was the one who brokered the ticket between Obi and Kwankwaso. Both of them are quite close to him,” he said.

He added, “That, of course, is a ticket that makes sense and has the potential to make a lot of impact in the 2027 election. I can tell you that for free, that he was the one who brought the ticket together.”

Osuntokun further claimed that Obasanjo had attempted to broker a similar arrangement ahead of the 2023 election but that it did not materialise.

He recalled the former president telling Kwankwaso, “If you had agreed the other time, both of you would have spent one term, and Kwankwaso would have been the beneficiary of that.”

The remarks come amid renewed debate over Obasanjo’s recent response to Osoba’s allegations regarding the 2003 general elections.

Earlier this month, the former Ogun State governor published an article titled How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003, alleging that the ex-president misled Alliance for Democracy leaders and Afenifere before the 2003 elections, contributing to the loss of AD governorships in the South-West.

In a July 23 open letter titled Reply to Your Inaccurate Posture: “How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003”, Obasanjo denied deceiving anyone, described Osoba’s account as inaccurate and incomplete, and rejected claims that the presidency manipulated the 2003 governorship elections.

The former president also revisited his long-running political dispute with Abubakar, alleging that the former vice president worked with AD governors on an anti-democratic plan and backed an impeachment plot against him during his first term.

Atiku rejected the allegations, questioned why Obasanjo raised the bribery claims only after the death of former House of Representatives Speaker Ghali Na’Abba, and described the accusations as politically motivated.

Osuntokun argued that claims linking Obasanjo to Tinubu’s political interests were inconsistent with his support for the proposed Obi-Kwankwaso ticket.

“How do you reconcile Obasanjo being the major sponsor of the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket with the theory that he is working for Tinubu because Tinubu visited him?” he asked.

He also rejected claims that Obasanjo manipulated the outcome of the 2003 South-West governorship elections to unseat Alliance for Democracy governors.

“I can definitely tell you that there was no such thing that happened,” he said, adding that the defeats suffered by the AD governors could be explained by political realities in each state rather than electoral manipulation.

Despite backing the proposed alliance, Osuntokun acknowledged that Tinubu would enjoy the advantages of incumbency ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

“It has always become a norm that an incumbent in power has the advantage to be elected. So that is there,” he said.

He, however, maintained that an Obi-led ticket would enjoy stronger public appeal than one led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

“But the Obi ticket, for me, is stronger in the popular imagination than the Atiku ticket,” Osuntokun said. (The PUNCH)

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