By:Chinedu Okpalanma

People keep talking about who will be President in 2027. I think they are asking the wrong question.

This election is unlike any other. It is not just about popularity or who draws the biggest crowd. Many Nigerians have become sceptical about elections and whether simply having more supporters is enough. If the opposition wants to defeat President Bola Tinubu who just recently told anyone who cares to listen that “he will wrestle the opposition to finish”, then it cannot afford to prepare for an ordinary election.

In my opinion, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is the only opposition platform with a realistic shot at taking power. Atiku Abubakar probably has the strongest chance of consolidating support across much of the North. But let nobody deceive himself. Northern votes alone will not remove an incumbent President. Elections are won by organisation, discipline and fearless execution.

That is why the campaign matters just as much as the candidate.

And if the campaign matters, then the choice of Director-General matters even more.

The Director-General of a presidential campaign is not merely an administrator. He is the field marshal. He coordinates intelligence, mobilisation, logistics, messaging, crisis management and political negotiations. Every successful presidential campaign has someone whose job is to wake up every morning thinking only about winning.

For me, there is only one name that fits the job—Rotimi Amaechi.

Some will immediately object that he is already the vice-presidential candidate.

That is precisely why the party should think differently and ask him to lead the campaign as well. If anything, it makes even more sense.

Campaigns are not won by wishful thinking. They are won by people who understand how elections are fought.

Amaechi does.

He is not just a former Governor or Minister. He is one of the few politicians in Nigeria today who has spent over two decades building political structures across the country. He knows how campaigns are organised. More importantly, he has led one before.

Amaechi’s role in the 2015 campaign that brought Muhammadu Buhari to power remains one of the strongest examples of large-scale political mobilisation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Regardless of anyone’s opinion about the Buhari administration, few dispute that the campaign itself was disciplined, organised and relentless.

Perhaps more importantly, he has repeatedly shown that he does not retreat simply because the odds appear unfavourable. His political journey has been defined by difficult contests in which he often found himself with his back against the wall. Those experiences matter.

That is why an arrangement in which Amaechi serves as Director-General, supported by a seasoned northern figure such as Aminu Tambuwal as Deputy Director-General, deserves serious consideration. One brings operational aggression and nationwide mobilisation; the other brings political diplomacy and deep relationships across the North. Together, they could provide both balance and strategic depth.

Just as importantly, the campaign team itself should not become another gathering of familiar political faces whose loyalties are divided. If the objective is genuine political change, then the campaign must be staffed by people whose commitment is unquestionable.

This is no time for political tourists.

No time for those maintaining one relationship with the ADC and another with the APC.

No time for individuals calculating personal survival ahead of collective victory.

The campaign should deliberately create room for younger professionals, organisers, technocrats and grassroots mobilisers from both the Atiku and Amaechi political camps—people with energy, competence and something to prove because elections are increasingly won by disciplined execution, data, communication and relentless field organisation as much as by headline personalities.

The ADC must therefore resist sentiment. Appointments should not be rewards. They should be strategic decisions because history is unforgiving to opposition parties that mistake popularity for preparedness.

There is a saying that generals don’t win wars from behind a desk.

If the ADC is serious about 2027, then it needs its best general where the battle will be fought.

This is not the time for sentiment. It is time for strategy.

The 2027 presidential election will not be won on election day alone. It will be won—or lost—long before the first ballot is cast.