2027: Why Peter Obi ought to step down for Tinubu – RMRDC boss

The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo M. Ike-Muonso, has urged the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to shelve his presidential ambition for the 2027 election and help President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid, arguing that the South needs to be allowed to finish its eight-year tenure earlier than energy returns to the North.

Speaking throughout an interplay session with newsmen in Abuja, Ike-Muonso mentioned the precept of energy rotation between the North and South, which has formed Nigeria’s political calculations for the reason that return to democracy in 1999, ought to information political actors as they put together for the 2027 common elections.

He argued that Obi ought to think about suspending his presidential aspiration till after Tinubu’s second time period and the following alternative for the North to supply a President, within the curiosity of political stability, nationwide cohesion and continuity in governance.

The RMRDC chief government additionally urged Obi to contemplate becoming a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying engagement inside the ruling social gathering may present a chance to contribute to coverage debates, perceive its governance buildings and take part within the growth programmes being carried out by APC-controlled states.

“Presidential ambition must be balanced with the larger interests of national unity, political stability and the need to sustain policies that can transform the economy. Nigeria has developed a political tradition of power rotation between the North and South, and respecting that understanding can help strengthen confidence among the country’s diverse political constituencies,” he mentioned.

He argued that permitting Tinubu to finish a second time period would offer a chance for the South to conclude its eight-year presidential tenure earlier than the North will get one other alternative to supply the nation’s chief.

Although the Constitution doesn’t prescribe a North-South rotation of the presidency, the association has remained an necessary political consideration amongst main events and stakeholders looking for to handle regional pursuits and preserve nationwide steadiness.

Ike-Muonso mentioned Obi’s political affect and help base could possibly be deployed to advertise constructive engagement on governance, financial growth and institutional reforms fairly than concentrating solely on the rapid contest for the presidency.

“Peter Obi has built a political following and brought issues of public expenditure, accountability and economic management into the national conversation. Those issues deserve sustained engagement. But political leadership also requires strategic decisions about when to contest, when to collaborate and how best to contribute to national development,” he mentioned.

He urged the previous Anambra State governor to contemplate supporting Tinubu in 2027 and utilizing the intervening years to deepen his engagement with progressive political concepts, construct alliances throughout the nation and contribute to insurance policies able to enhancing residents’ welfare.

According to him, becoming a member of the APC would give Obi a chance to take part straight within the social gathering’s inside coverage discussions and observe how its state governments method infrastructure, schooling, healthcare, funding and financial growth.

He mentioned the choice to affix a political social gathering finally rested with Obi, however maintained that Nigeria wanted a political tradition during which outstanding figures may work throughout earlier political variations in pursuit of agreed nationwide goals.

Ike-Muonso additional argued that the controversy forward of 2027 ought to prolong past particular person ambitions to incorporate an evaluation of the insurance policies and programmes wanted to diversify the financial system, create jobs and strengthen home manufacturing.

He mentioned the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda had created a coverage framework inside which establishments such because the RMRDC may advance native raw-material growth, industrialisation, import substitution and worth addition.

The Council, he defined, was pursuing initiatives aimed toward transferring Nigeria away from the export of unprocessed commodities in the direction of a production-based financial system able to creating jobs, attracting funding and strengthening home manufacturing.

Among its coverage proposals is a legislative framework meant to require at the very least 30 per cent worth addition to uncooked supplies earlier than export, a measure designed to encourage home processing and be sure that extra of the financial advantages from Nigeria’s pure assets stay inside the nation.

Ike-Muonso has argued that Nigeria’s ambition of constructing a $1 trillion financial system would rely considerably on its capacity to course of native assets, strengthen manufacturing and cut back dependence on imported industrial inputs.

“The opportunity before Nigeria is to move beyond exporting raw commodities and build an economy in which our natural resources support local factories, generate employment and create wealth within our communities,” he mentioned.

The RMRDC can also be selling the identification and growth of raw-material assets throughout the nation’s 774 native authorities areas to encourage funding in processing amenities and industrial clusters.

Its initiatives embody strengthening entry to raw-material data for producers and buyers, selling analysis commercialisation and inspiring collaboration between universities, analysis establishments and private-sector operators.

The Council’s Research and Demonstration Plant Complex and different research-industry initiatives are meant to assist translate scientific discoveries and indigenous applied sciences into commercially viable merchandise.

Ike-Muonso mentioned these interventions have been significantly necessary for small and medium-scale enterprises, which require dependable entry to native industrial inputs, acceptable applied sciences and funding alternatives to develop manufacturing.

He maintained that infrastructure growth throughout the South-East may complement the Council’s industrialisation agenda by enhancing the motion of uncooked supplies, completed merchandise and agricultural produce.

Among the foremost federal highway tasks within the area are the Enugu–Onitsha and Enugu–Port Harcourt expressways, the Enugu–Abakaliki highway and entry roads connecting the Second Niger Bridge.

The tasks are meant to enhance connectivity between the South-East and neighbouring areas, cut back transportation difficulties and facilitate entry to markets.

In Enugu State, tasks highlighted throughout a Federal Government inspection in June 2026 included the Enugu International Specialist Hospital, the Abakpa Junction flyover interchange, the dualisation of the Enugu International Airport Road and the reconstruction of sections of main federal highway corridors.

The state authorities additionally showcased its Smart Green Schools initiative and a tractor meeting plant as a part of its broader growth programme.

In Ebonyi State, tasks inspected included sections of the Trans-Sahara Superhighway, the Ndi-Egbe Bridge linking Ebonyi with Cross River State, rural roads, academic amenities and housing initiatives.

In Abia State, the tasks highlighted included the Ohafia–Umuahia Federal Road, sections of the Enugu–Port Harcourt Expressway and the state-funded Umuahia–Uzuakoli–Akara–Ohafia Road.

In Imo State, tasks highlighted in July 2026 included the Okigwe–Owerri Road, the Owerri–Obowo–Umuahia Road and enhancements to Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, alongside interventions in schooling and healthcare.

The tasks contain totally different funding and implementation preparations, with obligations shared between federal and state governments. Their anticipated advantages embody improved transportation, stronger business hyperlinks and elevated alternatives for funding.

Ike-Muonso mentioned the last word take a look at of governance was whether or not public insurance policies translated into measurable enhancements in folks’s lives via employment, higher public companies, decrease enterprise prices and elevated productive capability.

He referred to as on political leaders to maintain growth initiatives past electoral cycles, arguing that industrialisation required long-term planning, coverage consistency and efficient collaboration between federal and state governments.

He mentioned the 2027 political debate ought to present a chance for candidates and events to clarify how they meant to handle unemployment, enhance infrastructure, develop home manufacturing and harness Nigeria’s pure assets.

According to him, the nation’s political management should recognise that sustainable growth requires each efficient establishments and a willingness amongst political actors to cooperate on problems with nationwide significance.

He urged political stakeholders to put nationwide cohesion and financial transformation on the centre of their engagements forward of the following common election.