With talks about coalition brewing ahead of the 2027 election, former Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign spokesman Kenneth Okonkwo says he will support a fresh southerner or northerner who is willing to vacate office after a four-year single tenure.
He hinged his decision on equity and fairness to both northern and southern regions of the country, in line with the unwritten rule of rotational presidency.
“Everybody should come together. It is something that can be discussed. Who is going to do four years is going to influence who I am going to support because I still believe in equity and justice,” Okonkwo said on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
The lawyer, who dumped the Labour Party in February 2025, said he is open to joining the coalescing coalition to trounce President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next poll.
Talks about a coalition have been gaining momentum of late and were heightened by the defection of former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
El-Rufai has been pictured with the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, amongst other powerbrokers in the opposition. Like El-Rufai, Okonkwo recently met with Atiku, saying Nigeria needs cooperation to defeat the ruling APC in the next poll.
Okonkwo described the APC government as incompetent, saying the opposition must put up a formidable front to wrest power from the incumbent in the next election.
He said, “My game plan is simple. If the opposition is serious about wresting power from this incompetent government, they must all come together and act like one because that was what APC did in 2013 and that was what helped them to wrest power in 2015.
“I believe in coalition. When I was leaving, I said I am open to discussions with every group to consolidate the opposition so that we can take out this government.”
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