A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu, has dropped the hint that he may take a second shot at the presidency in the 2027 poll.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja on Thursday, he argued that his aspiration is premised on the fact that he is eligible to vie for the exalted seat to contribute to the socioeconomic and political development of the country.
The Delta-born politician, who is opposed to the ADC coalition backed by the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, argued that it behoves well-meaning Nigerians to allow the Southern part of the country to produce the occupant of the presidency until 2031.
Kachikwu, who vied for the presidency in the 2023 poll, faulted the alleged move to influence the presidential candidate of the opposition Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, to agree to be the running mate of Atiku Abubakar in the presidential poll on the platform of the ADc in the 2027 poll.
“I am aspiring for the office. I am running against President Tinubu. But I believe it is morally and equitably right that anybody from a major party to go against this President should be from the South. There is nothing wrong with that.
“It is equitable, it is justice. That is all we ask. So you have in that coalition people who move around Peter Obi, and they tell Peter Obi that you cannot win. You cannot do it, and that only if you become Atiku’s Vice President. What rubbish! That is baldadash. He has all it takes to aspire. He has all it takes to win an election.
“They take people around him so that at any point he goes to, they tell him, you cannot win. That is their strategy. And that is how they are forcing him into a situation where he agrees to be the vice presidential running mate to Atiku Abubakar. That is what they tell us every day,” he said.
Kachikwu accused the ADC coalition of engaging in deceitful propaganda against the President Tinubu-led administration without offering solutions to the multifaceted challenges facing the country.
He added, “And where we are today, they have come with another bunch of lies, and nobody is questioning them. Any time you confront these people, any time you interact with them, ask them: What will you do differently about the economy? What will you do to ensure that the Nigerian who leaves school today has a job within the next year, the next two years? What will you do to ensure that our hospitals improve, that our doctors and nurses are not leaving Nigeria for the UK, Canada and America? What will you do to end banditry or kidnapping?”
