Tinubu Wants To Contest Alone – Dele Momodu

Dele Momodu, chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former presidential candidate, has accused President Bola Tinubu of plotting to run unopposed in the 2027 general election, describing the development as a dangerous assault on Nigeria’s democracy.

Momodu dropped the bombshell during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme on March 15, 2026, where he warned that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is engineering massive defections to weaken opposition parties and leave Tinubu with no serious challenger.

“You can imagine how much Tinubu can generate from Lagos State alone not to talk of national, and when you have an absolute ruler everything is available to him,” Momodu declared.

He continued: “So if I’m with Atiku it shows you it is people who have genuine interest of the country. I believe there must be opposition politics. There must be opposition candidates but Tinubu wants to contest against himself and it doesn’t make sense to me.

“You can see all these rabble-rousing they are doing up and down, giving you fake statistics up and down. Look Buhari handed over to Tinubu, but for Buhari it would have been impossible for Tinubu to be president today.”

The veteran journalist and Ovation magazine publisher, who formally joined the ADC in January 2026 after parting ways with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisted that strong opposition remains the soul of democracy. He lamented the ongoing wave of PDP governors and leaders crossing to the APC, calling it “a sad day for democracy” that could leave the opposition in tatters.

Momodu went further in his analysis, predicting that any credible north-south coalition ticket anchored on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar alongside a southern heavyweight such as Peter Obi or Rotimi Amaechi would end Tinubu’s political dominance. “It will be the end of Tinubu’s foundation, not the APC,” he stated, drawing parallels between Atiku’s persistence and that of Donald Trump.

NaijaChoice News monitored the explosive interview live and can confirm that Momodu’s remarks come at a critical time as the ADC prepares for its national convention in April 2026, following ward and state congresses. The party has already positioned itself as the rallying point for a broad opposition coalition that includes heavyweights like David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola and Nasir El-Rufai.

Political observers note that Momodu’s comments underscore growing frustration within opposition ranks over what they perceive as the APC’s strategy to turn Nigeria into a de facto one-party state. With Buhari’s death in July 2025 still fresh in public memory, Momodu’s reminder of how the late former president paved the way for Tinubu’s emergence adds fresh fuel to the debate on power succession and the future of democratic competition in Africa’s most populous nation.

As the countdown to 2027 begins, Momodu’s warning is already sparking fresh conversations on the need for genuine opposition unity to rescue, recover and reset Nigeria.