Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso Join NDC for 2027

Former presidential candidates Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) on May 3, 2026. The realignment, termed the OK Movement, aims to merge Obi's youth-driven southern support with Kwankwaso's northern grassroots machinery to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections. The move triggered a mass exodus from the ADC, including 17 House of Representatives members and Senators Victor Umeh and Tony Nwoye.

Obi attributed his departure to a toxic political climate and state-engineered instability within the ADC. Kwankwaso cited the ADC's precarious position following a Supreme Court ruling on its leadership and a government application for its deregistration. Following their entry, the NDC zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to southern Nigeria, and Kwankwaso expressed willingness to serve as running mate to a southern candidate.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) dismissed the move as a non-issue, with some officials mocking Obi as a political nomad. Meanwhile, the ADC described the defections as a glitch, though critics like Senate President Godswill Akpabio declared the party dead. The NDC has faced its own hurdles, including a legal challenge from the All Democratic Alliance over its registration and an internal leadership dispute in Kano that was eventually settled by granting Kwankwaso significant control of the state structure.