The ruling party says it expects its hardest electoral fight in southern Nigeria and is already preparing for Peter Obi's influence in the region.
APC Deputy National Chairman Ben Nwoye says the party is planning an aggressive southern push as Peter Obi's movement remains a major factor ahead of 2027.
Political Stakes
The All Progressives Congress says it is treating southern Nigeria as one of the decisive fronts in the 2027 general election, with Deputy National Chairman for the South, Ben Nwoye, making clear that the party is preparing specifically for Peter Obi's influence.
Nwoye pointed to the scale of Obi's 2023 performance, especially in the South-East, where the Labour Party candidate powered a strong regional surge and also posted notable wins in other southern states, including Lagos, Delta and Edo.
Government and Party Response
According to Nwoye, the APC cannot afford to be complacent because Obi now combines the energy of the Obidient movement with a new political platform in the African Democratic Congress. He said every vote will matter and argued that the ruling party must organize more effectively if it wants to cut into Obi's southern base.
His remarks came after the APC convention that renewed Nentawe Yilwatda as national chairman and returned key members of the National Working Committee through a consensus process. Nwoye, a former Enugu APC chairman, emerged from that process with a strong brief to help rebuild the party's southern reach.
The comments underline how seriously the APC is reading the regional map ahead of 2027. Rather than focus only on old northern calculations, the party now appears to see the South as the arena where margins could decide the next presidential race.
