Barely 24 hours after former Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai formally announced his defection from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a coalition to unseat the current president in 2027 between El-Rufai and Labour party presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi has been mooted with it being fuelled by the social media activity of some of those close to the former Kaduna State Governor.
Bashir El-Rufai: Fueling Narrative on Social Media
The recent social media activity of Bashir El-Rufai, the first son of the former Kaduna state Governor has done a lot to solidify the narrative. A few hours after the confirmation of his father’s defection, he had posted “Peter Obi is surprisingly not a bad person after all. My views on him have changed recently. My mind was poisoned by my former party members. Sai Obi !” on his X page.
He followed up with the tweet “A great potential President or VP.” Then, he proceeded to retweet posts in support of Peter Obi.
Shifting Goalposts
Bashir El-Rufai has been known as a firm critic of Peter Obi and his sudden love for the Former Labour party Candidate has expectedly ben greeted with different reactions.
In 2023, before, during and after the elections, Bashir El-Rufai had in a series of posts targeted Obi, calling him names such as “religious Warrior”, “sore loser”, “a wailer” amongst other unprintable names, it has therefore come as a surprise to many that he would refer to the same Obi as a saint in 2025 which shows how easily opinions can change in politics.
Coalition Candidacy Gathering Steam
With the 2027 electioneering season drawing closer, the idea of a coalition candidacy has once again started gaining traction after the idea of an Obi/Kwankwaso coalition in 2023.
This time around, the names put forward as a coalition candidate include El-Rufai, Peter Obi and remotely Atiku Abubakar with a source claiming El Rufai is set to initiate reconciliation talks between Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in order for Kwankwaso’s faction of the NNPP to join the opposition parties’ coalition.
How far the coalition idea would go is left to be seen judging by the fact most of the names being put forward all want to be president and are almost certain of presidential tickets in different parties come 2027.
