Human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has revealed why he would support President Bola Tinubu over Peter Obi if the two were to face off in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Friday, Adeyanju said his stance had nothing to do with loyalty to the All Progressives Congress (APC) but rather with his personal convictions about tolerance, democracy, and political conduct.
“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, call people all sorts of names.
“Anybody who does not support their candidate is an enemy of Nigeria. Anybody that does not support the candidate has been paid, has been compromised in supporting the government,” he said.
Adeyanju dismissed claims that he was working to weaken the opposition on behalf of the APC, noting that he had always taken independent positions.
He pointed out that his voting record across several election cycles showed that he had supported candidates from different parties based on his judgment.
“I have never voted for a bad candidate in my view. In 1999, I voted for Obasanjo. In 2011, I voted for Goodluck Jonathan. In 2015, I voted for Jonathan again because I couldn’t support Buhari, and in 2023, I voted for Omoyele Sowore,” he explained.
He said his opposition to Obi was shaped largely by the conduct of some of Obi’s supporters during the last election, alleging that many resorted to online harassment of those with different views.
“What we are saying is that we must sanitise our polity, that we cannot have a country where people who terrorise others who do not appreciate that people have their rights. Look at what they did to Joke Silva during the election. They had artists and Nollywood people supporting them. Nobody terrorised those people. But they terrorised that woman, and other people, because she decided to support Tinubu in the last election. People have the right, I have the right,” he said.
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Adeyanju added that while he initially found Obi’s candidacy appealing, particularly because it gave the South-East a shot at the presidency, he became disillusioned as the campaign progressed.
“The idea of Obi’s candidacy excited me because the South-East has not produced a president since independence,” he admitted, but stressed that he could not align with some aspects of the movement.
He further emphasised that his activism had always been about defending democracy and free expression, noting that he had endured arrests and prosecutions across different governments because of his work.
“We have put our lives on the line for this country, for the preservation of democracy, at personal expense of prosecution. What kind of charges have we not faced in this country? At the time, I was almost charged with terrorism. They’ve charged me for all kinds of offences in this country,” he recalled.
He insisted that his criticism of Obi should not be misinterpreted as an endorsement of the APC, adding that his commitment remained issue-based politics.
“Because we cannot have a situation in our country or in our polity where political extremism becomes the order of the day. And Nigerians are living witnesses to the things that eventually happened to the build-up of the last election,” Adeyanju concluded.
