Peter Obi Not Sellable In North – Yusuf

A former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Professor Usman Yusuf, has said the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, is not sellable in the North.

Naija News reports that Yusuf stated this during an interview with DCL English, saying Obi would face serious questions from northern voters.

“Peter Obi is not sellable in the North, and this is the honest truth; they don’t want me saying that, but I don’t know how to lie. Peter Obi cannot penetrate the North; that’s the honest truth,” Yusuf said.

He said the major contenders ahead of the 2027 election included President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Obi of the NDC.

Yusuf said Obi’s tenure as Anambra State governor and his position on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) would be scrutinised.

“We are going to interrogate his tenure as a governor.

“We are going to interrogate his association and refusal to disassociate himself from IPOB which has been declared a terrorist group,” he said.

He added that Obi would also be questioned over his comments on IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

“He’s been saying that Nnamdi Kanu should not have been arrested, that he’s clean. We will interrogate him; it’s not for his surrogates to come and give us answers; he must come and talk to people in the North.

“If you arrest Turji and I say that he’s not a terrorist, you think anybody will vote for me even back home here?” Yusuf asked.

The former NHIS boss also accused Obi of running what he described as an Igbocentric and Christian-focused campaign in 2023.

“Peter Obi, during his 2023 election, was partly Igbocentric and Christian; how do you expect us Muslims to be comfortable with you?

“He went round all churches during his 2023 campaign; he has questions to answer, and he needs us to be comfortable with him,” Yusuf added.