Musawa, a long-time supporter of former President Muhammadu Buhari, said Obi’s political movement mirrors Buhari’s early presidential bids, which repeatedly failed due to the absence of broad-based national backing.
Nigeria’s Minister of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has said that former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, lacks the political structure and regional support required to win elections in Nigeria’s core northern states.
Musawa, a long-time supporter of former President Muhammadu Buhari, said Obi’s political movement mirrors Buhari’s early presidential bids, which repeatedly failed due to the absence of broad-based national backing.
“In the core North, there is nothing Peter Obi is going to do that is going to get him election victories,” Musawa said this in an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Mic On. “Peter Obi reminds me of Buhari.”
She explained that despite Buhari’s popularity and cult-like following in the North between 2003 and 2011, electoral success remained elusive until a strategic political alliance was formed with Bola Tinubu, who delivered critical support from the South.
“I was a Buharist from 2003. What Peter Obi has reminds me exactly of Buhari’s movement in 2003, 2007 and 2011. We believed Buhari alone could win, but we couldn’t deliver on our own,” she said.
According to Musawa, Buhari only emerged victorious in 2015 after what she described as a political “bridge” was built between the North and South-West through Tinubu’s political machinery.
“It was not until we had that bridge with President Tinubu giving us that base support in the South that we were able to win,” she added. “On our own as Buharists, we failed, and this is exactly the same situation Peter Obi is in.”
Musawa dismissed the notion that Obi could reverse his fortunes in northern Nigeria, insisting that regional voting patterns remain deeply entrenched.
“Opposed to the South, if you put Peter Obi in the North, he’s not going to win. In the core North, there’s absolutely nothing he’s going to do that will get him election victories,” she said.
Peter Obi, who emerged as a political force during the 2023 presidential election, enjoyed strong support among young voters and urban populations, particularly in the South and parts of the Middle Belt.