Arise Television’s Morning Show anchor, Rufai Oseni, has criticised presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Mr Peter Obi, over his alleged lack of visibility and policy inconsistencies ahead of the 2027 general election.
Oseni also raised concerns over reported disagreements between Obi’s political movement, the Obidient Movement, and the NDC, questioning whether the party was adequately addressing the expectations of its supporters.
He made the remarks on Friday while reacting to comments by a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain, Chief Don Ulasi, on the opposition’s preparedness for the 2027 presidential election.
Ulasi had described Obi as the only serious opposition figure capable of challenging President Bola Tinubu, citing the government’s shortcomings in areas such as inflation and rising food prices.
However, the PDP chieftain expressed doubts about the opposition’s ability to capitalise on public dissatisfaction, saying he had not seen sufficient grassroots mobilisation or town hall meetings by the NDC leadership.
Responding, Oseni questioned Obi’s political organisation and the reported disagreements between his camp and the NDC.
He said, “And that goes back to the problem that even this Peter Obi you are talking about. Are you really sure because he’s also having infighting with his NDC political party.
“As we speak today, there are loggerheads between OK movement and NDC, which there’s a lot of disagreement, which a lot of people even say they don’t even trust the high ups there in the NDC as regards if they are even truly after their hopes and aspiration.”
The broadcaster also faulted Obi over his position on petrol subsidy, arguing that the former Anambra State governor had failed to maintain a consistent stance on the policy.
“today, where is his manifesto? He was nowhere, he was found nowhere in the subsidy debate. He said something, then he flip flop on the subsidy.
“At first, he said, ‘Oh, I will keep subsidy. Now he’s saying he will remove subsidy again. But he said he will correct the corruption in there,” Oseni said.
He further argued that Obi had lost some of the supporters who backed him during the 2023 presidential election, attributing the development partly to what he described as inconsistency in his positions.
“So a lot of people have found him flip-flopping, and he has also lost a lot of people from the last election cycle that supported him,” he added.
Obi’s political platform and the cohesion of opposition parties are likely to remain key issues as political actors position themselves ahead of the 2027 general election.
