The party’s Deputy National Chairman (South), Ben Nwoye, stated that the APC would not take Obi lightly, given his strong performance in the 2023 presidential election, where he dominated much of the South, particularly the South-East.

Obi, who contested under the Labour Party in 2023 and secured significant victories across the region, is now aligned with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), where he is seeking to emerge as the party’s presidential candidate for 2027.

The APC chieftain noted that Peter Obi’s movement (Obidient movement) made major inroads during the last election, winning several legislative seats and gaining widespread support, especially in the South-East.

“If you come to the South-East and you see what happened in the last election, it was the grand zero for the Obidient movement, they practically took everywhere, including my state.

“I mean, they won two out of three Senate seats, I think they won 15 out of 24 House of Assembly seats, and they won seven out of eight House of Reps seat, so it’s huge,” Nwoye said.

“So, when you have the man sitting there and he went to Delta State, took some, went to Edo State, he won, and of course, he won in Lagos State.

“So, when you have such figure moving around, you should be prepared, and remember he has his two feed on party, on one hand the Obidient movement is there and alive and the ADC, and he said he is going to run.

“So, when you have that, every vote is going to count, we are going to fight through the system, we are going to make sure we get as much as possible to win,” he said.

He added that the APC expects a tougher contest in the South in 2027, with multiple aspirants from the region likely to intensify the race.

According to Nwoye, the ruling party is already strategising to reclaim lost ground and strengthen its base across the southern states to secure victory in the next general elections.

“Last time it was down south, and this time it is going to be down south because you have different people wanting to be president from the south.

“You have the Obi himself, of course, you have (Rotimi) Amaechi and some others who have not really declared, but we know that they are warming up,” he added. (The Sun)