2027 Race: Onyema Writes Former Presidents, Fixes Date For Official Declaration

Francis Onyema, a presidential aspirant for the 2027 general elections, has written to former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, informing them of his intention to contest for the presidency under the platform of the National Rescue Movement (NRM).

Onyema, 38, who hails from Delta State, has also written to respected national leaders and statesmen, including the Oba of Benin, the Emir of Kano, and human rights lawyer Femi Falana, among others, formally notifying them of his presidential ambition.

According to sources close to the campaign, the letters were part of Onyema’s consultations with national leaders ahead of his official declaration for the 2027 presidential election, scheduled for March 25, 2026, in Abuja.

The political scientist, who describes himself as an advocate of rational governmental policy as a mechanism for social change, maintains that the search for credible leadership in Nigeria must extend beyond the traditional political class to what he describes as the “Reformist Class.”

Accordingly, the declaration event will also feature the presentation of his long-form essay titled From the Political Class to the Reformist (Solution) Class to members of the press, a document he describes as a leadership reform framework.

Among other ideas, Onyema argues that elections should fundamentally be contests of ideas, insisting that leaders must be elected based on the strength of their convincing plans to address the needs of Nigerians, rather than on rhetoric.

He further maintains that Nigeria’s democratic progress will depend largely on the willingness of citizens to evaluate candidates not by political influence or financial strength, but by the clarity, credibility, and practicality of their ideas for national development.

The declaration event is expected to attract members of the media, civil society actors, youth leaders, and political observers interested in the evolving debate on leadership reform and issue-based democratic competition in Nigeria.