African Democratic Congress chieftain, Dele Momodu, has predicted that the 2027 presidential election will be tough for President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking during an interview on Nevon Media with Oseni Rufai, on Friday Momodu expressed optimism that the candidate of the ADC, Atiku Abubakar, will win the election.

According to him, if Atiku can hold his ground in the southern part of the country while dominating the north, he will easily defeat both President Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi.

“As I predicted, Atiku will win the majority of the North, and if he is able to compete favourably in the South, it will be over for President Tinubu and Peter Obi. 

“Atiku will secure at least 25% of the votes in 26 states while also dominating the North, which is where the bulk of the votes are,” he said.

He further stated that to win a presidential election in Nigeria, the constitution requires a candidate to secure the highest number of total votes, plus at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of the states.

He expressed the belief that Atiku is on track to clear this hurdle by locking down the high-voting northern states.

His prediction comes as the key political rivals prepared to face off again. In the previous 2023 election, Bola Tinubu won the presidency with roughly 37% of the vote, relying on a powerful base in the South-West and a steady spread of votes across the country.

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The Special Adviser on Media to Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, Mr Yinka Oyebode, has predicted that there would be a good turn out in the Saturday governorship election in the state.

He also predicted that the exercise might be one of the most peaceful in the history of Ekiti.

Oyebode made the prediction when he received some media executives in Ado Ekiti on Friday.

He attributed his prediction to the free space Governor Oyebanji gave all the political parties to campaign across the state.

He said before now, the state recorded violence during elections because of the stifling of political activities of the opposition by the government in power.

Oyebode stressed, “But, this time, the governor regarded Ekiti citizens as one entity, hence the enabling environment given to the opposition parties to operate freely.

“Everyone in Ekiti enjoys equal rights and freedom irrespective of political, religious or cultural affiliations.”

The governor’s aide attributed violence during elections to what he tagged reactionary actions of the opposition from a hostile political environment, most times the created by the government in power.

But reviewing the process so far, Oyebode said that Ekiti remains the most peaceful state in the country.

“We expect a very good turnout. We have seen it even in the collection of PVC.

“So far people have made almost 91 per cent of the collection. And there has been a remarkable improvement in what we had in terms of voter registration in the previous elections.

“Again, there is no report of the opposition saying that they were not allowed to operate, ,unlike the situation before now and this is a clear indication that we are expecting a peaceful and violence-free exercise tomorrow,” he said.

The Social Democratic Party has dismissed claims making the round that its governorship candidate, Isaac Adebayo Alade, has withdrawn from the scheduled Saturday, 20th June 2026, gubernatorial election in Ekiti State.

SDP National Publicity Secretary Araba Rufus Aiyenigba disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

This comes amid reports that Alade had stepped outside.

However, SDP said the story was fabricated to distract Ekiti voters ahead of its governorship election.

According to SDP, the false withdrawal story of Alade was credited to a group loyal to its expelled former chairman, Shehu Gabam.

“The Ekiti electorate and members of the general public are hereby assured by the National Chairman, Prof. Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe, and National Working Committee (NWC) that the SDP is listed on the ballot and its candidate, Ambassador Isaac Adebayo Alade, the validly nominated candidate who is recognized by the INEC, particularly with his being one of the governorship candidates who signed the INEC Peace Pact, remains strongly in contention for the election,” the party stated.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission recently listed Gombe as the right national chairman of SDP on its portal.

INEC on Friday said all is set to conduct Saturday’s Ekiti election.