Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has criticised suggestions that a joint presidential ticket between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi could defeat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the next general election.
Omokri’s remarks followed comments by media entrepreneur and politician Dele Momodu during an interview on Sunday Politics on Channels Television, where he reportedly suggested that an Atiku–Obi alliance could unseat the incumbent president.
Reacting to the claim on X, Omokri said while he holds Atiku in high regard, he believes such a ticket could face serious challenges in Northern Nigeria due to the region’s political and religious dynamics.
He wrote, “If Waziri Atiku Abubakar listens to Dele Momodu and runs with Obi, he may lose even in Adamawa!
“Waziri Atiku Abubakar is formidable, and I would never criticise him based on the immense respect I have for him, but watching Dele Momodu’s interview on Channel Television’s Sunday Politics yesterday, where he boasted that an Atiku-Obi ticket would defeat President Bola Tinubu, just goes to show how gullible Mr Momodu is.
“I do not know if Mr Momodu has ever lived in Northern Nigeria. I have. Northern Nigeria places value on politics. Yes! But there is one thing they place value on above politics, and that is religion. To be specific, Islam.
Islam in the geographical space now known as Northern Nigeria is exactly a thousand years old in 2026. And that faith has permeated every pore of Northern Nigeria, including its culture, history, and politics.
“And to think that a joint ticket with a man like Peter Obi, who was caught on a leaked audio vowing to unleash religious war on the Muslim Ummah, is going to unseat a strong incumbent just confirms that Dele Momodu should have stuck to glamour journalism rather than make a pivot to politics.
“On what grounds does Mr Momodu think that the average core Northern Muslim would vote for a man who, in his most candid moments, revealed the almost genocidal plans he has for the faith that has guided them for a millennium?
And rather than help himself after that Saturday, April 1, 2023, Yes Daddy audio leak that made a very nasty April Fool’s joke at Mr Obi’s expense, Peter Obi has taken even more dramatic action to alienate the Muslim Ummah in the North by choosing positions that threaten their social structure.
He further pointed to Obi’s stance on issues surrounding the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, arguing that such positions could influence the perception of Northern voters.
“For example, Nnamdi Kanu, the convicted leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra movement, has repeatedly said some of the most horrific things about Northerners, Hausas, Fulanis, and Islam. Beyond uttering the vitriol that he aimed against the North, he has repeatedly called for killings against Northern Muslims serving in the nation’s military and paramilitary services, as well as encouraged acts of violence against civilians.
