Former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has said any possible alliance between political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections must be negotiated by the parties involved, rather than by individual candidates.

Obi stated this while responding to questions on whether he would step down for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar or accept the position of vice president if an alliance is reached between the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Democratic Congress (NDC).

Speaking in an interview with Arise TV, Obi said the issue had gone beyond a personal decision between him and Atiku, stressing that both politicians are candidates of different political parties.

When asked that there is an opportunity for a sort of an alliance, whether he would step down for Atiku Abubakar.

Obi responded: “Do you know where we are now? No, you tell me. Where are we now? I’m a candidate. Yes. So my leader Atiku is a candidate of another party. So you’re talking about two parties coming together.”

He added: “It’s no longer me or him. You’re not talking about parties coming together.”

According to Obi, any alliance would require negotiations at the organisational level because the parties already have their respective candidates.

“All those parties have candidates. So it’s a discussion. There is no longer me as Peter talking,” he said.

The former Anambra governor likened the proposed political alliance to a merger between two corporations, saying such an arrangement cannot be concluded simply through discussions between the heads of the organisations.

“It’s like a situation where you have two corporations trying to come together. It’s no longer something the two CEOs go to a drink and say, we’re going to work together,” Obi said.

“They need to look at, how do we bring these two corporations together?”

He further explained: “You don’t go and say now, oh, well, listen, you on Arise and Channels is going to work together by your founders going to one place and drinking and announcing it. They have to sit down.”

Obi also dismissed the suggestion that he had ruled out serving as another candidate’s running mate, saying the political circumstances had changed.

“So it’s not me of saying, oh, I don’t want to be this, or I don’t want to be that. No, it’s past that stage,” he said.

Asked whether he was therefore saying that the issue had “passed that stage,” Obi replied that he did not know where the claim that he had categorically refused to be a vice-presidential candidate came from.

“I don’t know where that’s [coming from],” he said.

On his political agenda, Obi said he believed the North could experience significant transformation under his leadership, particularly through agriculture and a different approach to tackling poverty.

“If there is one president that the North will celebrate, it’s me. I know its problems. I’ll tackle poverty in a new, non-corrupt way,” Obi said.

He argued that the region possesses a major economic asset in agriculture, adding that worsening poverty in the North could not be attributed solely to the removal of fuel subsidy.

“The North has an asset that no other area can say they have, and that asset is agriculture,” he said.

“Poverty in the North wasn’t worsening because of the removal subsidy, there are other things.”