2027: Onaiyekan blasts opposition leaders over vote-splitting

Cardinal John Onaiyekan has criticised opposition leaders seeking to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027, warning that their failure to unite behind one candidate could hand victory to the ruling party.

The former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja said opposition figures who each believe they can defeat Tinubu risk weakening their chances by splitting votes among themselves.

Speaking on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, Onaiyekan said the opposition needed to put aside individual ambitions and agree on a credible alternative for Nigerians.

“Five people saying this government is not good, and each one says it’s me who will rule. They don’t know arithmetic,” he said.

He warned that allowing several opposition candidates to contest separately could enable the incumbent to retain power even if many voters wanted a change.

“If five of you are opposing one man, and you are telling all of us to scatter our votes among you, don’t you know that by simple arithmetic, the status quo will simply win by default?” he asked.

Although Onaiyekan admitted that he had a preferred opposition candidate, he said personal preferences would mean little if opposition leaders failed to reach an agreement.

“It’s not as if, among the so many of them, I don’t have my preference, but I’m not happy if I vote my preference. You vote your own, and they vote their own,” he said.

The cardinal urged opposition groups to find common ground and present a candidate capable of challenging the ruling party, stressing that Nigerians needed a clear alternative rather than a collection of competing voices.

He also urged voters dissatisfied with the government’s performance to use their voter cards to hold elected leaders accountable, arguing that elections provide citizens with an opportunity to assess those in power.

Onaiyekan cautioned against losing faith in the electoral process, saying Nigeria was not ready to return to military rule. He said the challenge ahead of 2027 was to ensure that voters had credible alternatives and could freely choose their leaders.