The National President of the Northern Youth Leaders Forum, Comrade Elliot Afiyo, has said that either former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar or the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would need the backing of the other to have a realistic chance of defeating President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Afiyo, who spoke with journalists in Lusaka, Zambia, said the 2027 contest would be one of the most fiercely contested elections in Nigeria’s political history, given the interests and personalities involved.
He argued that Atiku and Obi individually would face significant challenges against Tinubu but maintained that an alliance between the two opposition figures could alter the political calculations ahead of the election.
According to him, the political contest would have far-reaching implications for the country’s power balance, particularly over the traditional North-South rotation of the presidency.
Afiyo, however, said Tinubu could still secure re-election if the ruling All Progressives Congress focused on engaging established and verifiable youth organisations, particularly those operating across Northern Nigeria.
He criticised what he described as the APC’s reliance on political youth groups without substantial grassroots structures, arguing that genuine youth organisations should be given greater attention in the party’s mobilisation efforts.
The Northern youth leader also expressed reservations about the African Democratic Congress and the New Nigeria Peoples Party’s strategies, claiming that some opposition movements were yet to adequately harness established youth structures in the North.
Afiyo disclosed that the Northern Youth Leaders Forum had not endorsed any presidential candidate for the 2027 election, saying its position would be determined by its National Working Executive Council at a meeting scheduled to hold in Kaduna in November 2026.
