The NdIgbo for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu 2027 Forum (NDI-ABAT) has congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigerians on Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary, using the occasion to issue a political caution to the Presidency ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
NDI-ABAT urged President Tinubu to look beyond political declarations and carefully examine the consistency between what South-East political leaders say publicly, the parties they belong to, the candidates those parties field and the political structures they actually mobilise.
The Forum’s position is straightforward: political support must be demonstrated by consistent action, not merely announced through the media.
Uzodimma Said All Five South-East Governors Backed Tinubu — Otti Publicly Disagreed
The Forum recalled the July 2026 controversy that followed Imo State Governor and Chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma, announcing that the five South-East governors had resolved to support President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
Governor Uzodimma said the South-East had decided to support Tinubu, citing what he described as the President’s commitment to the development of the region.
But the declaration was immediately followed by a significant clarification from Abia State Governor Alex Otti.
Otti publicly stated that Uzodimma could not speak for every governor, stressing that no individual could determine how the region would vote and that the decision on who becomes president ultimately belongs to Nigerians at the ballot box. Otti also said the Labour Party would field its own presidential candidate, whom he intended to support.
NDI-ABAT considers the episode politically significant because it demonstrates that a declaration attributed collectively to the South-East governors cannot automatically be treated as a unanimous electoral commitment without confirmation from each individual governor.
NDI-ABAT: This Is Why Tinubu Must Verify Every Political Assurance
The Forum therefore advised President Tinubu to exercise political prudence.
NDI-ABAT said the Presidency must distinguish between support for the Federal Government, cooperation with the President as Head of State, personal goodwill toward President Tinubu and an actual commitment to campaign and vote for his 2027 re-election.
These are four different political positions.
Governor Otti’s subsequent public explanation makes that distinction particularly important. In September 2026, Otti said he supports President Tinubu in his capacity as governor and member of the National Economic Council, while maintaining a distinction between supporting the President’s administration and supporting a Labour Party presidential candidate in 2027.
NDI-ABAT said President Tinubu should therefore read political commitments through actions and structures, not headlines alone.
“Support You In The Morning — Negotiate With Obi At Night?”
NDI-ABAT is particularly concerned about the broader possibility of political actors publicly maintaining cordial relations with the Presidency while simultaneously engaging opposition political interests.
The Forum stressed that it is not presenting any unverified allegation of secret negotiations as an established fact.
Rather, NDI-ABAT is asking a political question:
Where does a politician’s electoral commitment truly lie when his public relationship with President Tinubu appears cordial, but his political party maintains a presidential candidate competing against Tinubu?
The Forum said Nigerians deserve clarity, while President Tinubu deserves political partners whose commitments are transparent and demonstrable.
NDI-ABAT Questions The Labour Party’s Strategy
NDI-ABAT specifically questioned the Labour Party’s decision to field a presidential candidate against President Tinubu while Governor Otti continues to publicly acknowledge and support aspects of the Tinubu administration.
The Forum recognises that Governor Otti has the constitutional and political right to belong to the Labour Party and that the Labour Party has the democratic right to field its own presidential candidate.
However, NDI-ABAT said the political contradiction deserves public examination:
If Governor Otti’s support for President Tinubu is politically meaningful, why should the Labour Party platform associated with his political leadership simultaneously maintain a presidential candidate whose objective is to contest the same presidency in 2027?
NDI-ABAT said this is not an attack on Governor Otti’s democratic rights, but a demand for political clarity.
APGA Has Shown That An Alternative Arrangement Is Possible
NDI-ABAT further drew attention to the decision of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to support President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election rather than fielding a presidential candidate.
APGA’s leadership said its National Executive Committee had resolved not to field a presidential candidate for the 2027 election in support of Tinubu’s re-election, while the party would continue to field candidates for legislative elections.
The Forum said the APGA position demonstrates that a political party can retain its identity and contest legislative elections while adopting a clear position on the presidential election.
NDI-ABAT therefore asked why the Labour Party cannot openly explain its own strategic choice to maintain a presidential candidate while one of its most prominent governors publicly expresses support for President Tinubu’s administration.
The Jonathan Lesson: Never Rely Solely On Governors
NDI-ABAT urged President Tinubu to study the political lessons of the 2015 presidential election, particularly the experience of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Historical reporting documented efforts by PDP governors and leaders to endorse Jonathan ahead of the 2015 election, while divisions also emerged among South-East political leaders over attempts to secure a collective regional endorsement.
Jonathan later stated that some governors elected under the PDP platform worked against his re-election. In his account of the 2015 contest, he said some governors did not wholeheartedly campaign for him and, in some instances, obstructed campaign activities involving his presidential bid.
NDI-ABAT therefore said the lesson for 2027 is clear:
A presidential candidate should never mistake a governors’ declaration for a guaranteed electoral structure.
Tinubu Must Build Beyond Governors’ Declarations
NDI-ABAT believes President Tinubu should build a political structure that reaches directly into wards, polling units, local government areas, traditional institutions, youth organisations, women’s groups, professionals, business communities and grassroots political networks.
Governors are important political stakeholders, but they do not personally own the votes of their citizens.
The electorate ultimately determines the outcome of an election.
Consequently, NDI-ABAT urged the Presidency to measure political support through verifiable grassroots mobilisation, campaign activity, party organisation and consistent public advocacy, rather than relying exclusively on assurances from state governors.
The South-East Needs Political Honesty
NDI-ABAT said the South-East deserves a political environment in which every major actor states his or her position without ambiguity.
The Forum therefore called on South-East governors who support President Tinubu to clearly state whether their support is:
- support for his administration;
- support for Federal Government policies;
- personal political cooperation; or
- explicit electoral support for his 2027 re-election.
The Forum said these distinctions matter because the 2027 presidential election will ultimately be determined by voters and not by political declarations alone.
NDI-ABAT To Tinubu: Watch The Actions, Not Only The Words
NDI-ABAT’s message to President Tinubu is direct:
Do not build the 2027 South-East strategy solely around assurances from governors.
Do not confuse cordial government relations with electoral commitment.
Do not mistake a public statement of support for a fully operational campaign structure.
And above all:
Do not repeat the strategic vulnerability that former President Jonathan later identified from his 2015 experience, when some governors on his own party’s platform failed to provide the wholehearted support he expected.
NDI-ABAT maintained that the safest political approach is to verify every commitment, build directly with the electorate and demand consistency between public declarations and political action.
NDI-ABAT: 2027 Must Be About Accountability And Clarity
The Forum insisted that its intervention is not directed against any individual governor or political party. It is a call for clarity, transparency and political accountability as Nigeria approaches another decisive presidential election.
The South-East has the right to engage every presidential candidate, every political party and every political platform.
President Tinubu equally has the right to know which political actors genuinely intend to campaign for his re-election and which merely support his administration while pursuing a different presidential alignment.
For NDI-ABAT, 2027 must not be an election of assumptions. It must be an election in which political commitments are clear, measurable and tested by action.
The position was signed by Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, National Coordinator, NDI-ABAT, and Dim Uchechukwu Nnam Okwukwu, Chairman, Board of Trustees, NDI-ABAT.
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