Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has urged Nigerians to support the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket as political campaigns for the 2027 presidential election get underway.
Kwankwaso’s message centres on rebuilding Nigeria and presenting the opposition ticket as an alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The former governor has repeatedly positioned the emerging opposition alliance around competence, unity and national development.
The phrase “Nigeria will be OK” has become part of the messaging surrounding the Obi-Kwankwaso campaign, alongside calls for Nigerians to unite behind a political alternative.
Kwankwaso is expected to play a particularly important role in the northern political mobilisation of the ticket because of his influence in Kano and parts of the North.
He contested the 2023 presidential election under the New Nigeria Peoples Party and recorded his strongest performance in Kano.
His decision to join forces with Peter Obi has consequently become one of the major developments in the 2027 opposition landscape.
The alliance is attempting to combine Obi’s support base, particularly among younger voters and in parts of southern Nigeria, with Kwankwaso’s established political structure in Kano and the wider North.
Kwankwaso has urged Nigerians to look beyond regional and religious divisions and support what he presents as competent leadership.
His campaign message comes as opposition parties seek to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The ruling APC currently has significant political advantages, including control of the federal government and a large number of state governments.
The opposition’s challenge will be converting its separate support bases into a nationwide electoral coalition.
Kwankwaso’s involvement is therefore considered central to the alliance’s strategy.
The campaign is expected to increasingly focus on the economy, security, unemployment, education and the quality of governance.
For the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket, the central argument will be that Nigeria requires a change in direction after years of economic pressure and political instability.
For the APC, the argument will be that Tinubu’s reforms require continuity to produce their full benefits.
The 2027 presidential election is consequently shaping up as a contest between competing claims about Nigeria’s future rather than simply a referendum on individual candidates.