Some Obidient members back President Tinubu in 2027 election — Premium Times Nigeria
Some participants in Nigeria’s Obidient movement, which supported Labour Party candidate Peter Obi’s presidential campaign in 2023, have declared their support for incumbent President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election. The decision, announced on October 21 at a briefing in Abuja, was reported by Premium Times Nigeria.
Group representative Adesina Fagbenro-Byron, who previously served as the Obidient movement’s director of operations, said its members had concluded that Peter Obi lacks sufficient preparation to lead Nigeria. He also stated that Obi did not make use of the expertise of volunteer specialists who supported his presidential campaign.
New name and platform
The group said it is changing its name from Obidients to Batified Obidients and has chosen the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its political platform. Its members plan to register voters, campaign, attend rallies, and vote for the APC and Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
Fagbenro-Byron noted that the new association had also endorsed Vice President Kashim Shettima for a second term alongside Tinubu. According to him, the group will seek to attract former Obidient supporters, undecided voters, and increase support for the president, including in states where he lost to opposition candidates in the 2023 election.
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Arguments in support of Tinubu
The Batified Obidients representative acknowledged economic hardship, rising living costs, and problems with security, corruption, education, and the healthcare system under Tinubu’s rule. At the same time, he said the president’s administration’s reforms are gradually producing results.
Among the signs of progress, the group cited the removal of petrol subsidies, increased allocations to states and local governments, a reduction in the share of debt-servicing costs in revenue, stronger foreign exchange reserves, and easing inflation. Fagbenro-Byron also referred to the Electricity Act, the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government financial autonomy, student loans, and expanded fertiliser production in the country.
He added that not all former Obidient supporters will join the new group: some support the African Democratic Congress, the Nigerian Democratic Congress, or the Labour Party.
