From waste to worth: Assessing the Obi–Kwankwaso joint ticket for Nigeria’s 2027 Election.

By Kalu Okoronkwo

When nations grow weary and old formulas collapse, history is often rewritten by credible alliances. When recycled promises becomes unconvincing, societies search for leadership capable of resetting the political imagination. Nigeria has reached such a breaking point, economically and politically and the emerging Peter Obi–Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso joint ticket speaks directly to this defining moment.

The Obi–Kwankwaso combo is not merely a political pairing; it is a convergence of credible leadership, fecundity of ideas, integrity, incorruptibility and accountability that Nigeria has long needed but rarely achieved.

Peter Obi represents the order of frugality in managing public finance in a country where the leaders  are addicted gluttons in consumption of our common wealth. His public life has been defined by fiscal discipline, data-driven planning, and a firm belief that leadership is stewardship, not lordship.

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, on the other hand, embodies politics of mass appeal,  grassroots mobilization, institutional reform, particularly in education, human capital, and subnational development. Where Obi is austere and technocratic, Kwankwaso is expansive, populist, and purposeful. Together, they form a rare political symmetry: prudence matched with power, efficiency paired with practicality , and reform anchored in empathy.

Now that the Obi–Kwankwaso joint ticket is emerging as a serious national option, regardless of the political platform they ultimately adopt,  Nigerians must act with intentionality to make a choice that will save the ship of Nigeria from precipice.  This moment demands collective action.

Traditional rulers, Obas, Emirs, Serikis, town union leaders, religious institutions, business associations, and civil society organisations including the Obidient and Kwankwasiyya movements must immediately mobilize their members and families to register for their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) wherever they reside. Nationwide registration is not optional; it is strategic. It is how victory becomes constitutional rather than symbolic, and how the 25 percent threshold is secured across states. Elections are won not only by popularity, but by spread and by meeting constitutional requirements , not merely amassing votes in familiar strongholds.

Equally important is democratic vigilance. Participation does not end at the ballot box. Citizens must be prepared to vote, wait, observe, and lawfully protect the integrity of their choices until results are announced. Democracies mature when citizens understand that their duty is both to elect leaders and to safeguard the process peacefully and legally.

It is now evident that His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi, has formally aligned with the recently formed coalition party, the Action Democratic Alliance (ADC), signaling his commitment to pursuing change through institutional politics. His Excellency, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has yet to settle on a platform. However, the core commitment of this alliance transcends party logo. What matters most is not the party logo but the essence of the alliance: to transform Nigeria politically and economically.

This proposed alliance is not a partnership of convenience, but one of complementary strength. Obi brings a discipline that global investors and development partners respect. Kwankwaso brings the reach and structure required to ensure that reform touches every community, every demographic, and every voter. Together, they offer a rare synthesis of credibility, capacity, and competence, a path from waste to worth, not just in rhetoric, but in results.

History shows that nations recover fastest when reformers and mobilizers govern together. Germany’s post-war resurgence was driven by fiscal discipline paired with social inclusion. Indonesia’s democratic consolidation thrived when economic rationalists partnered with mass-based politicians. In Brazil, Lula’s early success emerged from blending social mobilization with macroeconomic stability. The lesson is consistent: discipline without inclusion fails, and inclusion without discipline dissolves.

Nigeria’s challenge has always been imbalance: reform without reach, or reach without reform. The cost has been catastrophic. From runaway public expenditure and opaque budgeting to potholes where railways should exist. Billions of dollars  have been wasted while citizens’ hopes have been deferred. The result is a nation rich in potential but poor in delivery.

Economically, an Obi–Kwankwaso administration would signal immediate seriousness to investors, development partners, and global institutions. Obi’s credibility in cost control, debt moderation, and productivity-led growth, would reassure markets that Nigeria is finally ready to tame waste and prioritize value. Kwankwaso’s record in education, urban renewal, and people-centered governance would ensure that reforms do not become elite exercises detached from everyday realities. The result would be a development model that grows the economy while carrying the people along, a balance Nigeria has chronically lacked.

Politically, the ticket would dissolve entrenched fault lines and puncture the tired narratives of North versus South, Christian versus Muslim, elite versus masses. The Obidient and Kwankwasiyya movements are not merely support bases; they are civic cultures; young, energized, ideologically driven, and impatient with transactional politics. Their convergence would produce a truly national coalition, organically distributed across states, classes, and faiths.

This combination  matters because it closes long-standing governance gaps. It promises fiscal responsibility with social impact, inclusive governance that speaks to all Nigerians, and strengthened institutions capable of outliving individual leaders. Global progress is driven by systems, not sentiments and this alliance signals a commitment to rebuilding institutions that serve Nigerians transparently, reliably, and fairly.

Some may ask: What if the platform changes? The answer is clear. Nigerians must prepare to support whichever platform this alliance ultimately adopts, not out of blind loyalty, but out of informed conviction that credibility, capacity, and competence are what Nigeria urgently needs.

Nigeria’s future cannot be postponed. Its youth cannot wait. Its economy cannot continue to stagnate while potential bleeds away. The Obi–Kwankwaso joint ticket is not merely a political arrangement; it is a blueprint for national reawakening.

Nations rarely collapse in a single dramatic moment. More often, they decline quietly, through missed opportunities, recycled bad  leadership, and the false comfort of doing the same things while expecting different results. Nigeria now sits at that dangerous edge. Missing the Obi–Kwankwaso ticket in 2027 would not simply be a political miscalculation; it would be a national setback, measured in hunger, insecurity, and lost generations.

For nearly a decade, Nigeria has been trapped in a merry-go-round of policies, spinning loudly, consuming energy, but going nowhere. The APC administration promised change but delivered continuity in waste, confusion, and contradiction. One policy cancels another. Reforms are announced in the morning and quietly abandoned by nightfall. Subsidies are removed without safety nets, taxes rise without productivity gains, and borrowing deepens without visible growth. The result is a nation running faster into poverty.

Today, by conservative estimates, nearly 80 percent of Nigerians are poorer than they were a few years ago. The middle class is shrinking. Graduates roam without jobs, traders struggle to restock, and families now measure meals instead of dreams. Inflation has turned survival into a daily struggle. When leadership lacks coherence, citizens bear the cost.

Politically, trust has eroded. Citizens no longer debate policy; they endure it. Elections feel like rituals rather than choices. Power circulates within closed elite loops, while competence becomes optional. This is how democracies decay, not through coups, but through cynicism.

And then there is insecurity. Banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, and communal violence have become normalized. Entire communities live in fear, uncertain whether the state can protect them or even remembers them. When a government is economically weak, it becomes politically desperate and when it is politically desperate, it becomes security-blind. Nigeria is living that reality daily. This is the cost of policy without discipline and politics without conscience.

In Obi and Kwankwaso joint ticket, one brings stability; the other brings reach. One restores confidence; the other mobilizes the people. Together, they offer what Nigeria has lacked for decades: direction.

Globally, nations that escaped decline did so by making hard choices at critical moments. Argentina’s repeated crises show what happens when populism displaces discipline. Venezuela’s collapse warns of prolonged policy confusion. Conversely, countries like Indonesia and Brazil stabilized only when credible leadership, sound  economic management aligned  with social inclusion. Nigeria is facing its own moment of choice.

If Nigerians miss this ticket out of apathy, division, or fear of change, the consequences will be severe: another cycle of borrowing without growth, another expansion of poverty and insecurity, another generation asking why nothing ever works.

The deeper truth is this: Nigeria does not lack ideas; it lacks credible executors with national legitimacy. An Obi–Kwankwaso joint ticket offers something refreshingly  rare in Nigerian politics: competence with character, popularity with purpose, and ambition anchored in service.

2027 will not just be an election; it will be a referendum on whether Nigeria is ready to abandon emotional politics for intentional governance. If properly organized, broadly mobilized, and civically defended, this alliance could mark the beginning of Nigeria’s long-delayed reset, economically disciplined, politically inclusive, and globally respected.

History favours those who prepare early.

The time to put this in motion is now.

Kalu Okoronkwo is a communications strategist, a leadership and good governance advocate dedicated to impactful societal development and can be reached via kalu.okoronkwo@gmail.com