Wike's Spokesperson: Some 2027 Candidates Not Serious

Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, asserted that certain presidential candidates in the 2027 election, including Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC) and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), are not contesting with the intention of winning.

During an interview on Arise News, Olayinka highlighted that the presence of 19 candidates does not imply all are serious contenders. He cited Sowore's 2023 performance, where he garnered only 14,600 votes, as evidence that some candidates are merely participating to register their presence.

Olayinka further criticized the NDC for lacking a robust grassroots structure, noting that they did not field candidates in recent elections in Ekiti and Osun. He emphasized that effective election management requires substantial personnel at polling units, stating that with 176,846 polling units in Nigeria, at least five people are needed to manage each unit effectively.