Tinubu's backyard

Nigeria 2023: Obi gets high-profile Yoruba backing, but can he win rural south-west?

By Ben Ezeamalu
Posted on Friday, 6 January 2023 10:22

Labour Party's Presidential candidate Peter Obi arrives at a campaign rally at Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, on November 23, 2022 (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)

Insurgent candidate Peter Obi has won endorsements by former president Olusegun Obasanjo and other influential groups in the Yoruba dominated south-west. Frontrunner Bola Tinubu holds the political machinery of the area in an iron grip. However, Obi is hoping to make inroads in the rural hinterlands, and cause an upset in this bloc of 18.3 million voters - the second largest in the country.

For Idowu Monday, a teacher in a rural community in Ogun, South-West Nigeria, the thought of a Peter Obi presidency evokes unbridled excitement.

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