- Human rights activist Deji Adeyanju says he would support President Bola Tinubu over Peter Obi in the 2027 elections, not out of loyalty to APC but due to concerns about intolerance among some of Obi’s supporters.
- He recalled how critics, including actress Joke Silva, were “terrorised” for backing Tinubu in 2023
- Adeyanju noted he once supported Obi’s candidacy as a chance for the South-East but later withdrew
Human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has declared that he would support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, if both contest in the 2027 elections.
Speaking on Channels Television, Adeyanju said his position was not about loyalty to APC but personal conviction. “Why would somebody like me support the APC? Support the APC for what? If the opposition presents Peter Obi, I will vote Tinubu. This is because we cannot have a situation where a man whose supporters cannot tolerate criticism calls people all sorts of names,” he stated.
He accused a section of Obi’s supporters of intolerance and intimidation, citing the 2023 case of veteran actress Joke Silva. “They terrorised that woman and others because she decided to support Tinubu. People have the right, I have the right,” he said.
Adeyanju noted that his political choices are independent of party lines, recalling voting for Obasanjo in 1999, Jonathan in 2011 and 2015, and Sowore in 2023. While he was initially excited about Obi’s candidacy as an opportunity for the South-East, he said, “The idea of Obi’s candidacy excited me because the South-East has not produced a president since independence. But I couldn’t reconcile with some of the things I observed in the movement.”
On his activism, Adeyanju stressed: “We have put our lives on the line for this country, for the preservation of democracy, at personal expense of prosecution. At one point, I was almost charged with terrorism.”
He clarified that opposing Obi does not mean endorsing APC: “Because we cannot have a situation in our polity where political extremism becomes the order of the day. Nigerians are living witnesses to what happened in the build-up to the last election.”
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