Some Presidential Candidates Are Not Contesting 2027 Election To Win – Olayinka Mocks Obi, Sowore

The spokesperson for the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, Lere Olayinka, has taken a swipe at some presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 elections, saying they can’t win.

According to him, some presidential candidates are only in the race to make up the numbers and already know they can’t win.

Naija News reports that Olayinka made the claim on Friday during an interview on Arise News, where he spoke about the political landscape in Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He said some candidates are only in the race to register their presence, not to win the election.

“So it is not everybody that contests elections that wants to win. There are people that contest elections just to register their presence. For instance, in this 2027 election, we have 19 presidential candidates.

“Can we say honestly that all the 19 are contesting with the mindset of winning? The answer is no,” Olayinka said.

He specifically called out the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, citing his 2023 performance as an example.

“For instance, the candidate of AAC, Omoyele Sowore, had 14,600 votes in 2023. How would that person win the election next year? They know that they cannot win.

“They are just contesting,” he said.

The media aide also predicted failure for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, arguing that the party does not have enough grassroots presence or spread to win a presidential election.

In his words, “Even NDC, the party of Peter Obi, they know they cannot win the election. They are just contesting to try to register their presence.”

“You don’t have a governorship candidate in 15 states. You only have it in 13. There was an election in Ekiti and Osun recently.

“NDC did not fit candidates. How do you win an election when you don’t have people on ground to canvass votes for you, to manage elections for you?”

He said political parties needed substantial personnel at polling units to effectively manage their operations on election day.

“In Nigeria today, there are 176,846 polling units. To make good impression on election day, you need at least five people to manage each polling unit for you.

“At least. You need five people. We have done elections before, so we know what it is.

“It is not about making noise,” Olayinka submitted.