Former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State and ex-Senate Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi, has stated that Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will not be able to rely on the same rhetoric that bolstered his performance in the last election to challenge President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme on Thursday, Olujimi said Tinubu’s vast political experience and strategic understanding of Nigeria’s political terrain make him a formidable contender for re-election.
“The rhetoric of the last election will not work again, except he [Obi] comes with another gimmick,” she said. “This is a politician [Tinubu], a man who knows the terrain well. Beating him? Uphill task.”
According to Olujimi, Tinubu is the first “dyed-in-the-wool” politician to become Nigeria’s president, describing him as someone who “knows all of us,” has worked across political divides, and “knows his onions.”
She also commented on her recent defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), stating that the party’s current administration is more pragmatic and decisive compared to its previous leadership.
“The APC we talked about in the past is not the same as the one in power now,” she said. “This government is resolute. It takes tough decisions and sticks with them. That is what made me join the APC.”
Olujimi admitted it might appear unfair that she left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which gave her political prominence, but argued that the opposition party had lost traction and direction. She said she preferred to leave rather than remain and work against it from within.
She added that her supporters at the grassroots welcomed her defection and that the PDP had operated like a ruling party while in opposition after losing the 2023 general election.
On the coalition efforts led by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Olujimi dismissed it as lacking grassroots structure in Ekiti and therefore not a viable political platform.
