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Senator Adams Oshiomhole has downplayed concerns that Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, poses the greatest political challenge to the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general election, arguing that Obi’s electoral performance was largely the product of public frustration with the final months of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The senator representing Edo North made the remarks on Monday during an appearance on Beyond The Headlines, where he rejected suggestions that the ruling party was underestimating Obi’s political influence after his strong showing in the 2023 presidential election.
According to the former Edo State governor, the circumstances that boosted Obi’s popularity were exceptional and are unlikely to be repeated.
“No, not at all. Obi was produced by an unusual situation when a ruling party decided to destroy itself, making anybody running on its platform almost unelectable. It was that confusion that produced those votes,” Oshiomhole said.
He attributed the public discontent to the naira redesign policy and the severe fuel scarcity that characterised the build-up to the 2023 election, saying many Nigerians became disillusioned after being unable to access their own money.
“People had money in the bank but couldn’t access it. They queued all night at ATM machines just to withdraw ₦10,000, and after a week, even the ATMs were dry,” he said.
Oshiomhole noted that the cash shortage forced many citizens to rely on Point of Sale (POS) operators, who charged significant fees just to obtain cash.
“Someone asked why people would queue all night to withdraw ₦5,000, then queue again for fuel, and still expect them to queue on election day to vote for the same government. That anger was what produced Obi.”
The former Nigeria Labour Congress president argued that widespread frustration, rather than Obi’s political appeal alone, shaped the election’s outcome.
Recalling interactions with voters during the campaign, Oshiomhole said many blamed the government for the hardship caused by the cash crunch.
“A woman in my village told me, ‘You said I should keep my money in the bank, but when I went to collect it, they said there was no money. At the POS, they deducted ₦2,000 from ₦5,000. How do I survive?'”
Despite acknowledging the anger among Nigerians at the time, Oshiomhole maintained that the controversial policies were not official programmes of the APC.
“I told her what Buhari was doing at that time was not APC policy. It was that anger that influenced the outcome of the election,” he said.
The senator insisted that Obi’s performance in 2023 reflected an extraordinary political moment rather than a lasting electoral threat to the ruling party ahead of the 2027 polls.
