Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has fired back at claims that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi are the opposition figures most likely to unseat President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general election.

Speaking on what he described as a damaging pattern of political instability that he says disqualifies Obi as a credible challenger, he insisted that Tinubu would best them.

Omokri made the remarks while responding to growing commentary from political observers and opposition supporters who have continued to promote Atiku and Obi as the two candidates best positioned to dislodge the incumbent.

The former presidential aide, who has been a consistent supporter of Atiku Abubakar, rejected the premise entirely, pointing instead to President Tinubu’s decades-long record of political consistency as the defining factor that would ultimately determine the outcome of the next presidential contest.

“How can you say a man who has been in three political parties in six months is going to defeat a president who has been stable politically since 1989?” Omokri said, in a pointed rhetorical jab aimed squarely at Obi. The comment is a reference to Obi’s rapid movement across platforms in the build-up to 2027.

After leaving the Labour Party, Obi joined the African Democratic Congress in December 2025, before departing that platform as well and formally joining the Nigeria Democratic Congress alongside former Kano governor Rabiu Kwankwaso in May 2026 completing a journey through three parties within a matter of months.

Omokri also used the occasion to tout the Tinubu administration’s record, pointing to the uninterrupted operation of public universities under the current government as evidence that the president’s reforms were delivering results.

He noted that the Academic Staff Union of Universities had not embarked on a single nationwide strike since Tinubu assumed office a pointed contrast to the prolonged disruptions that characterised previous administrations.

The ambassador-designate maintained that Tinubu’s long-standing political consistency and institutional experience gave him a commanding structural advantage that opposition candidates with fractured party bases would struggle to overcome.

The comments add a fresh dimension to what has become one of the most animated political debates in Nigeria ahead of the 2027 cycle. Peter Obi, now the sole presidential aspirant of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, has insisted he remains committed to his bid and has pledged to serve only one term if elected, in line with the principle of power rotation.

Atiku, meanwhile, continues his own consultations within opposition circles, as the broader coalition effort to unseat the APC continues to be tested by internal disagreements over candidate selection, party choice, and the limits of political alliance-building.