“Tinubu Is Gone, Won’t Return In 2027”; Says Lauretta Onochie
Lauretta Onochie, former presidential aide, has launched a fiery political broadside against President Bola Tinubu, declaring that the president has “no pathway to return in 2027” and insisting that his exit from power is “non-negotiable.”
Onochie, former aide to late president Muhammadu Buhari, made the remarks while addressing supporters at a recent political gathering, where she openly distanced herself from Tinubu’s administration.
She also lamented her own role in supporting his 2023 election.
In a video seen by SaharaReporters on Friday, Onochie was seen telling her loyalists: “Tinubu has no pathway to return in 2027. We are not saying maybe or maybe not. He’s gone. Tinubu is gone.”
She added that while she voted for him, she now considers that decision a personal embarrassment.
“He was elected by the people including me standing here and shamefully too and regrettably too,” she said.
Onochie, who once served as Social Media Aide and later as Chairperson of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board, insisted that her political movement would not engage in the tactics she accused Tinubu’s supporters of deploying.
“We will work gently. We are not going to be running around or doing whatever they are doing. We are not going to go with them,” she said, stressing that her followers would “stand our ground respectfully without insulting anyone.”
She concluded with an emphatic prediction about the 2027 presidential race:
“We will just march on in 2027 and I think 2027 he will be gone. It is non-negotiable. He is gone already.”
In October, Ademola Olarewaju, Special Assistant on Digital Media Strategy to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, had also recently said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would suffer a devastating defeat in the 2027 presidential election if former President Goodluck Jonathan decides to contest.
Olarewaju made the statement during his appearance on Mic On Podcast hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, where he analysed the shifting political dynamics ahead of the next presidential election.
According to him, Jonathan’s entrance into the race under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would completely destabilise the APC’s electoral base, leaving the ruling party without a strong footing nationwide.
“If Goodluck Jonathan comes into the primaries and contests in a competitive primary and he wins, we all will support him. Then APC loses. APC would have no base in that election,” Olarewaju had declared.
Atiku’s aide further claimed that his principal, Atiku Abubakar, remains the most formidable figure within opposition parties in Nigeria.
