PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA — The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Mr. Peter Obi, has assured his supporters and party faithful that nobody will intimidate them or subvert their will at the polling booths during the 2027 general elections, vowing that anyone who attempts to make votes not count will himself be counted.
Obi spoke in Port Harcourt on Thursday during a town hall meeting with voters tagged “Obi Talks Nigeria,” where he fielded questions from enthusiastic supporters. The event was part of the NDC’s ongoing engagement with voters across the country as the party positions itself for the 2027 elections.
Addressing concerns about voter intimidation, Obi told the gathering that the dynamics at polling units have changed, making it harder for anyone to manipulate the process. “Nobody will intimidate us again at the polling booths. If you get to any polling booth today, the highest number of officials you see in any polling booth is five. The average number of voters is 40 to 50. There’s no way five people will intimidate 50 people. And we will make sure we have coordination to ensure that such intimidation does not arise,” he declared.
The former Anambra governor emphasised that security personnel and other officials at polling booths are themselves Nigerians who understand the struggles of ordinary citizens. “The people who are in these polling booths are from families that are suffering of hunger. Some of the policemen, their children are not in school. All they want is for you to defend and demand that your vote must count. And that is the demand we are going to make aggressively,” Obi stated.
Addressing concerns about the manipulation of the INEC Result Viewing Portal, Obi said voters would not allow any manipulation this time. “Yes, they will try to manipulate the IReV. But let me tell you, it will not be easy this time. There will be so many IReVs this time. This time around, if there is network glitch, we will give them another one that has no glitch. By allowing them to continue, that glitch will glitch our lives. That’s what we are suffering today. This time all of us will rescue our country,” he declared.
In a moment of deep emotion, Obi responded to a supporter who said they were ready to die for the cause, telling the crowd, “I’m ready to die too.”
Meanwhile, the NDC Vice Presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, warned political parties against relying on the number of governors they control as a guarantee of victory in the 2027 general election. “Jonathan was the president, the sitting president lost the election. I’ve given you an example, especially those who think because they have over 30 governors, they cannot lose the election. That was a very big mistake,” Kwankwaso said.
He argued that several governors, particularly in the North, had performed poorly and might struggle to campaign for their parties ahead of the elections. “The trend is those governors and their party have performed woefully, to the extent that it is very difficult for them even to come out and campaign. Why? Because from top to bottom, they did absolutely nothing,” he added.
Kwankwaso lamented the impact of the massive revenues accruing to governments in recent years, questioning why Nigerians had not seen tangible results. “Now in one year, we have seen it on social media that our government collected over N1.11 trillion, just less than one year. You go around, what have you done with that money? Close to nothing. And people are very angry. And this anger is bad, and worse is the issue of insecurity, especially in northern Nigeria,” he stated.
The NDC governorship candidate in Rivers State, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, also addressed the gathering, expressing gratitude for the support of party faithful and assuring them that a better Nigeria was achievable. “We want to thank you for your sacrifice. I want to assure you that we shall have a Nigeria that works. I want to assure your excellencies that we are not afraid. Courage is not the absence of fear, but fear that has set us free,” Lulu-Briggs said.
The town hall meeting in Port Harcourt was the latest in a series of engagements by the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket as they seek to build momentum ahead of the 2027 elections. With both candidates vowing to resist intimidation and defend the people’s mandate, the NDC is positioning itself as a formidable force in the upcoming electoral contest.
