As the countdown to the 2027 general elections begins, a powerful new narrative is taking shape in Nigeria’s volatile political landscape — one that casts Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, as the spiritual successor to the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s “Mai Gaskiya” legacy.
In a stirring political commentary issued Thursday, Dr. Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh, an Oxford-trained entrepreneur, public policy expert, and the 2023 House of Representatives candidate for Abakaliki/Izzi Federal Constituency argued that the quiet but consistent calls for Obi to lead a national reset are neither coincidental nor casual. Instead, they reflect deep popular sentiment across Nigeria’s North and South — a yearning for a return to integrity in public leadership.
According to Ezeh, the mantle of Mai Gaskiya — Hausa for “the honest one,” a title reverently associated with Buhari is now gravitating toward Obi. “Peter Obi speaks like Buhari,” Ezeh quoted a Sokoto farmer as saying. “He speaks for people like me.”
Ezeh’s statement highlighted a potentially game-changing political arithmetic: the fusion of Buhari’s 12.7 million loyalists with Obi’s 2023 support base of 6.1 million votes and the wider Obidient youth movement, estimated to number over 10 million. Together, this bloc could create an unprecedented coalition of over 23 million Nigerians, a seismic force with the potential to upend the entrenched political order.
“The Obidient Movement is not just a protest. It is a proposal. It is not just anger; it is architecture,” Ezeh stated, describing Obi as not only the inheritor of Buhari’s moral authority but its evolution — technocratic, accountable, frugal, and unapologetically people-oriented.
“Obi does not speak in riddles or cling to entitlement. He governs with spreadsheets, not slogans,” he noted.
Referencing private interactions between the two men, Ezeh alleged that Buhari recognized Obi's governance philosophy and quietly encouraged him with the words: “Never forget the poor.” Ezeh interpreted this as more than mere advice but a symbolic anointing, a passing of the torch from one symbol of anti-corruption and simplicity to another.
“Buhari saw in Obi the same virtues that endeared him to the Northern masses: restraint in power, disdain for ostentation, and unwavering focus on public good.”
Despite this growing momentum, Ezeh warned that entrenched political forces desperate to preserve their grip are pushing back. He cited ongoing efforts by establishment figures such as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, and Nyesom Wike to frame the 2027 battle in ethnic, religious, or regional terms.
“They fear Obi not because of his tribe, but because of his truth,” Ezeh said. “They fear the collapse of the old order built on patronage, prebendalism, and parasitic politics.”
He described the resurgence of the “agbero economy” a street-level thug-patron network — as a tactic to intimidate moderates and silence reformers. The strategy, he warned, is being exported beyond Lagos to Abuja, Benin, and elsewhere.
Ezeh also hinted at emerging political realignments, pointing to growing camaraderie between Obi and high-profile Northern disruptors like former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai and Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed. Their collaboration, he suggested, is unnerving the old establishment and redefining North-South political cooperation on ideological, rather than ethnic, grounds.
“In Obi, young Northerners see a disciplined leader they can trust, not a transactional figure, but a transformational one,” he emphasized.
With the APC struggling to contain the socioeconomic fallout of its leadership, and opposition figures unable to inspire fresh hope, Ezeh believes that the real battleground for 2027 is not the ballot but the battle for national conscience.
“This is not just another election. It is a referendum on whether Nigeria will continue to reward impunity, or finally embrace competence. Obi represents that bridge — between the legacy of Mai Gaskiya and the aspirations of a frustrated youth population. He is the rock upon which a new Nigeria can rise," he said.
He added that while intra-coalition tensions exist, the noise is deliberate — a distraction from the real issues of poverty, insecurity, and economic collapse under the current regime.
With the political chessboard heating up, and power brokers scrambling to retain control, Dr. Ezeh's intervention is a timely reminder that the 2027 race is not just about who wants power but who the people trust to wield it wisely.
“Peter Obi’s movement is organic, sincere, and enduring. And whether the old guard likes it or not, the silent majority is no longer silent. They are watching. They are waiting. And they are ready," he concluded.
