2027 Elections: ‘We Won’t Leave Obi’s Votes To INEC’ — Aisha Yesufu

Aisha Yesufu, a prominent supporter of Peter Obi and member of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has said supporters of the former Anambra State governor will take direct responsibility for protecting their votes in the 2027 presidential election.

Yesufu said Obi’s supporters would not leave the monitoring of their votes entirely in the hands of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies or other institutions involved in the electoral process.

The activist made the position known during an interview on Arise News while discussing Obi’s chances in the 2027 election and the lessons supporters of the former governor drew from the 2023 presidential poll.

According to her, the strategy for 2027 would involve having trusted representatives at polling units across the country and ensuring that results recorded at the various stages of the electoral process are properly monitored.

“Yes, we are going to have people at every polling unit to protect the votes,” Yesufu said.

She explained that the plan would not stop at the polling unit level.

According to her, supporters would monitor the movement of result sheets from polling units through ward and local government collation centres and continue following the process until the final results reach Abuja.

“No result sheet will leave our sight. We will follow the results from the polling units all the way to Abuja,” she said.

Yesufu said the objective was to make sure that the votes cast by Nigerians were accurately reflected in the final outcome of the election.

She said the experience of the 2023 presidential election had shown they needed to build stronger structures around polling units instead of depending only on large rallies, social media campaigns and public support.

Yesufu, however, said her role in the 2027 election would be different from what she did during the 2023 campaign.

The activist said she had “zero trust” in INEC, security agencies and the judiciary, arguing that Nigerians who wanted their preferred candidates to emerge could not afford to be passive during the election.

She also criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu, describing it as a “colossal failure”.

Yesufu argued that government claims about improvements in macroeconomic indicators would mean little to Nigerians if such improvements did not translate into better living conditions.

She said the real measure of economic policies should be their effect on households and businesses rather than figures that ordinary citizens could not feel in their daily lives.

She expressed confidence that Obi could retain good support in Lagos State and make further gains in other parts of the country.

Yesufu recently said her decision to remain involved in Obi’s political project was not based on a personal ambition to occupy public office.

She had sought the NDC ticket to contest the Federal Capital Territory senatorial seat but lost the party’s primary to Amanda Pam.

Despite the setback, she has continued to speak publicly about the 2027 election and Obi’s presidential bid.

Yesufu also defended Obi over the recent incident in Benue State in which his convoy was reportedly obstructed while he was travelling to Yelwata.

She argued that Obi was right not to engage the people who allegedly blocked his movement, noting that he had other engagements and should not allow what she described as “miscreants” to determine his activities.

Politics Nigeria had reported that the Allied Peoples Movement recently demanded an investigation into the incident, describing the alleged obstruction of Obi’s convoy as a concern ahead of the 2027 elections.