By Tekena Amieyeofori
Founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has predicted that the presidential ticket of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso under the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, will not gain traction in the 2027 general elections.
The cleric made the declaration in a video posted on X while speaking to his congregation, arguing that the NDC missed a strategic opportunity by not aligning with the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
According to him, Obi and Kwankwaso would have had better prospects if they had merged with the ADC to form a broader opposition coalition instead of contesting as a standalone party.
The NDC is a newly registered political party that attracted attention in May 2026 when both Obi and Kwankwaso announced their defection to it. The two politicians cited lingering internal crises and court battles within the ADC as reasons for leaving.
Obi, former Labour Party presidential candidate in 2023, and Kwankwaso, former NNPP flagbearer in the same election, had both emerged as major third-force figures in 2023. Obi finished third with over 6 million votes, while Kwankwaso came fourth with about 1.4 million votes. Their separate campaigns were credited with breaking the traditional PDP-APC duopoly and reshaping voter mobilisation, especially among youths.
The ADC itself became the rallying platform for an opposition coalition in mid-2025, drawing in defectors from PDP, LP and other parties ahead of 2027. That realignment was widely seen as an attempt to present a united front against the ruling APC.
Reacting to the NDC’s decision to go it alone, Ayodele faulted the move and advised a merger.
“You see the NDC party in Nigeria, assuming you can listen. Instead of you going as a solo party, you would have merged with the ADC and form a coalition.
“But you alone going solo, NDC is not in the calculation. They call it OK but I’m not seeing anything okay. I do not see ‘OK’ (Obi and Kwankwaso) going anywhere in the 2027 Presidential election.”
Primate Ayodele is known for making annual prophecies on politics, economy and security. Some of his past predictions on elections and governance have generated public debate, though critics often question the accuracy of prophetic forecasts.
With 2027 still more than a year away, political realignments continue across parties. The APC is consolidating under President Bola Tinubu, while opposition parties are still negotiating mergers and coalitions aimed at challenging the incumbent.
Whether the NDC will reconsider and seek alliance with the ADC remains unclear, but Ayodele’s remarks add to the growing commentary on how opposition unity, or the lack of it, could shape the next presidential contest.