Dear Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi,
I write this open letter not as an enemy of the opposition, but as a concerned Nigerian who understands that defeating an incumbent government requires more than public anger, personal ambition, emotional speeches, social media popularity, or presidential declarations.
Both of you have indicated interest in defeating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027. Alhaji Atiku, through the ADC, and Mr. Peter Obi, through the NDC, now present yourselves as major alternatives to the current government.
But there is one serious question that must be asked openly:
How exactly do you intend to turn public anger into electoral consequence?
It is not enough to say Nigerians are hungry. It is not enough to say people are suffering. It is not enough to say fuel price, food inflation, insecurity, unemployment, exchange rate instability and economic hardship have made the Tinubu administration unpopular.
All these may be true.
But public anger does not automatically remove an incumbent government.
In politics, anger must be organized. Suffering must be converted into votes. Votes must be protected. Candidates must be credible. Party structures must be active. Polling units must be manned. Ward leaders must be engaged. Local interests must be negotiated. And the National Assembly must not be treated as an afterthought.
This is where the opposition appears to be getting it wrong again.
How can anyone seriously claim he wants to defeat an incumbent president while showing little or no serious interest in off-cycle elections? How can a party claim it wants power at the centre but does not care deeply about who becomes its Senate candidate, House of Representatives candidate, governorship candidate, state assembly candidate, or local party leader?
A presidential election is not won only from Abuja.
It is won from the polling unit.
It is won in the wards, in the villages, in the churches, in the mosques, in the markets, in the unions, in the campuses, in professional associations, in community meetings, in local political networks, and through candidates who have real influence among real voters.
President Tinubu and the APC understand this very well. They understand structure. They understand incumbency. They understand elite alignment. They understand the importance of governors, lawmakers, local government actors, party chairmen, traditional networks, ward leaders and polling-unit machinery.
You cannot defeat that kind of political machine with presidential ambition alone.
You cannot defeat it by assuming that hunger will automatically become votes.
You cannot defeat it by assuming that suffering people will naturally vote in one direction.
You cannot defeat it by assuming that social media outrage is the same thing as electoral strength.
The same public anger can trend online and still fail at the ballot box. The same suffering masses can complain every day and still be out-organized on election day. The same anti-government sentiment can be split across multiple opposition parties and still return the incumbent.
That was one of the biggest lessons of 2023.
In 2023, the opposition had energy. The opposition had anger. The opposition had enthusiasm. The opposition had strong voices. But the opposition did not have enough unity, structure and coordination to convert public dissatisfaction into a decisive national outcome.
You are about to repeat the same mistake in 2027.
If ADC and NDC are serious, they must stop building campaigns around personalities alone. They must build parties. They must build structures. They must test themselves in off-cycle elections. They must recruit credible legislative candidates. They must prepare polling-unit agents. They must protect votes. They must engage communities. They must raise and train local organizers. They must build alliances beyond comfort zones. They must present a clear economic alternative.
Nigerians must hear more than “Tinubu has failed.”
They must hear what you will do differently.
They must know your plan for food prices.
They must know your plan for fuel and energy.
They must know your plan for jobs.
They must know your plan for insecurity.
They must know your plan for exchange rate stability.
They must know your plan for corruption.
They must know your plan for education, healthcare, infrastructure, local production and national unity.
Most importantly, they must see that you have the political structure to implement whatever you promise.
A presidential candidate without strong Senate and House of Representatives candidates is politically exposed. Even if he wins the presidency, how does he govern effectively without legislative strength? How does he pass budgets? How does he approve reforms? How does he investigate abuse? How does he defend his mandate? How does he stop sabotage from a hostile National Assembly?
Power is not only about winning Aso Rock.
Power is also about controlling the legislative environment that makes government possible.
This is why any opposition leader who ignores the National Assembly while chasing the presidency is not building a government. He is building an ambition.
And ambition, no matter how popular, is not a substitute for structure.
Off-cycle elections should not be treated as distractions. They are rehearsals. They are tests of seriousness. They show whether a party has real voters, real agents, real local leaders, real candidates, real lawyers, real coordinators, and real capacity to challenge the ruling party beyond press statements.
If you cannot seriously contest off-cycle elections, how do you intend to contest a national election against an incumbent president?
If you cannot defend votes in one state, how do you intend to defend votes across 36 states and the FCT?
If you cannot build strong candidates for Senate and House of Representatives, how do you intend to build a government after the election?
If your party is weak at the ward level, how will your presidential message reach the ordinary voter who does not live on social media?
These are not small questions. They are the real questions.
The hard truth is this: Tinubu’s greatest advantage in 2027 may not be popularity. It may be opposition disorganization.
The incumbent does not need to be loved by everyone to win. He only needs the opposition to remain divided, distracted, structurally weak and poorly coordinated.
Public anger can embarrass a government.
Public anger can fill comment sections.
Public anger can produce powerful speeches.
Public anger can create viral videos.
Public anger can produce massive rallies.
But only organized public anger can remove an incumbent.
So, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi, if you truly want to defeat President Tinubu in 2027, prove it beyond presidential declarations. Prove it beyond interviews. Prove it beyond press conferences. Prove it beyond slogans. Prove it beyond personal popularity.
Build the structure.
Strengthen your parties.
Contest off-cycle elections seriously.
Support credible legislative candidates.
Build ward-to-ward presence.
Prepare polling-unit agents.
Defend votes.
Unite where necessary.
Negotiate where necessary.
Sacrifice where necessary.
And show Nigerians that you are not merely running to win an election, but preparing to form a government.
Because 2027 will not reward anger alone.
It will reward organization.
It will reward discipline.
It will reward structure.
It will reward those who understand that power is not donated to the angry; power is taken by the organized.
Yours sincerely,
Prince Oluwatosin Jegede
A concerned Nigerian, writing from Ekiti State.
