2027: We’ll follow Obi’s votes from polling units to Abuja — Yesufu

Aisha Yesufu, a political activist and member of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, says supporters of Peter Obi will take direct responsibility for safeguarding their votes in the 2027 presidential election rather than depend entirely on electoral and other state institutions.

Yesufu said the movement would establish a strong presence at polling units and track election materials and results through every stage of the collation process up to Abuja.

She spoke in an interview with Arise News while assessing Obi’s prospects in the 2027 presidential race and reflecting on the outcome of the 2023 election.

According to her, the experience of the last presidential election had demonstrated the need for voters and political organisations to become more actively involved in protecting the ballots cast at polling units.

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

She explained that the monitoring would not end at the polling units, but would continue through the ward, local government and state collation centres before the results reached the national level.

“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 ensure that the final results announced by the authorities accurately reflected the votes cast by Nigerians.

She added that she had “zero trust” in the Independent National Electoral Commission, security agencies and the judiciary, arguing that citizens could not leave the responsibility of protecting their votes solely in the hands of government institutions.

She consequently called for greater grassroots organisation ahead of 2027, saying supporters should place more emphasis on what happens at polling units instead of concentrating their efforts mainly on rallies and campaign events.

Commenting on the recent incident in Benue State in which Obi’s movement was reportedly obstructed, Yesufu defended his decision not to confront those who blocked his convoy.

She said Obi had other engagements to attend and should not allow what she described as “miscreants” to determine his movements or derail his programme.

Yesufu also maintained that Obi was capable of winning the 2027 presidential election, arguing that the worsening economic situation and insecurity had made Nigerians more conscious of issues affecting their daily lives.

She described the administration of President Bola Tinubu as a “colossal failure”, saying improvements claimed in some macroeconomic indicators had yet to translate into meaningful relief for ordinary Nigerians.

According to her, Nigerians continued to contend with high prices, insecurity and weakened purchasing power, stressing that the success of economic policies should ultimately be judged by their effect on citizens.

Yesufu further argued that Obi had an advantage because voters were becoming increasingly interested in competence, character and capacity rather than allowing religious considerations to determine their choices.

She expressed confidence that Obi would retain Lagos in 2027 while making substantial gains in other parts of the country.

Yesufu, who said she had no intention of contesting for elective office, said her priority was to mobilise supporters ahead of the election and ensure that votes cast for Obi were properly protected and accounted for.

She said the 2023 experience had reinforced the need for a more organised grassroots structure capable of ensuring that the votes of Nigerians translated into the final electoral outcome.

Dear Vows