The 2027 presidential contest gathered fresh political significance on Monday as presidential candidate Peter Obi made a high-profile appearance at the inauguration of Seyi Makinde’s campaign office in Abuja,

The appearance brought two prominent figures of Nigeria’s opposition politics into the same political space.

Obi’s presence at the event, held in the Federal Capital Territory, drew attention to the evolving relationships among opposition forces ahead of the general elections. He was seen alongside Bauchi State Governor and APM National Leader, Bala Mohammed, as supporters and party officials assembled for the formal unveiling of the campaign headquarters.

Although the event centred on Makinde’s presidential bid, Mohammed used the occasion to send a message to competing political parties, warning them against dismissing the electoral prospects of the Allied Peoples Movement and its candidate.

The Bauchi governor presented Makinde as a politician whose experience at the sub-national level had prepared him for the presidency, pointing to his record in Oyo State as evidence of his capacity to manage resources and deliver development despite limited means.

“Whoever disregards us is at his own peril,” Mohammed declared, insisting that the party was entering the 2027 race with an agenda to “reset Nigeria” and present what he described as credible leadership to the electorate.

He further described Makinde as an engineer, mobiliser and resource manager whose political and administrative experience, in his view, placed him among the strongest contenders emerging ahead of the presidential election.

With the Abuja campaign office now inaugurated, the event marks a more visible phase of Makinde’s presidential campaign while Obi’s appearance adds another layer of interest to the unfolding opposition calculations ahead of 2027.