The Director-General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has called on the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to drop his 2027 presidential ambition and support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Ike-Muonso argued that Tinubu should be allowed to complete a second term to enable the South to finish its eight years in power before the presidency returns to the North.
He made the appeal during an interactive session in Abuja on Monday, urging Obi, a former Anambra State governor, to consider joining the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and contributing to its policy formulation and development plans.
The RMRDC chief said Obi had gained considerable political support and brought issues such as public spending, accountability and economic management into national discourse. However, he maintained that the former governor should prioritise collaboration and national development over his immediate presidential ambition.
“Peter Obi has done well by building 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. Obi needs to step down. Let him shelve his presidential ambition and work with President Bola Tinubu to retain the ticket for the South.”
Ike-Muonso said supporting Tinubu in 2027 would align with Nigeria’s longstanding informal arrangement of rotating presidential power between the North and South.
Although the Constitution does not provide for regional zoning or power rotation, the practice has remained an understanding among major political parties and stakeholders since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999.
He stressed that political ambition should not overshadow national unity, stability and continuity in governance, adding that respecting the rotation arrangement could strengthen confidence among Nigeria’s diverse political groups.
“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.
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“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 said.
The RMRDC director-general further argued that joining the APC would give Obi an opportunity to participate in the party’s internal discussions and contribute to its policies on infrastructure, education, healthcare, investment and economic growth.
While acknowledging that the decision ultimately rested with Obi, Ike-Muonso called for a political culture in which leaders could set aside past disagreements and work towards common national goals.
He also urged political stakeholders to shift attention from individual ambitions to policies that would diversify the economy, create jobs and strengthen local production.
Connecting his appeal to the Federal Government’s economic agenda, Ike-Muonso said Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda offered a framework for advancing domestic raw-material development, industrialisation, import substitution and value addition.
He explained that the council was working to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on exporting unprocessed commodities by encouraging local industries to process raw materials and retain more economic value within the country.
As part of the effort, the RMRDC is proposing a legislative framework that would require at least 30 per cent value addition to raw materials before they are exported. The proposal is aimed at promoting local processing and ensuring that more benefits from the country’s natural resources accrue to domestic industries and communities.
“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.”
The council is also working to identify and develop raw-material resources across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, with the aim of attracting investment in processing plants and industrial clusters.
Ike-Muonso called on political leaders to maintain development programmes beyond election cycles, noting that industrialisation depended on long-term planning, consistent policies and cooperation between federal and state governments.