APC Reps member who said Peter Obi can’t win 2027 election faces rejection at political event

A member of the House of Representatives, Clement Jimbo, who said the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi cannot win the 2027 election and will even lose his polling unit, faced apparent rejection from some members of his constituency at a political event in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

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Mr Jimbo represents Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika Federal Constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He is seeking re-election for a second term in the 2027 election.

The federal lawmaker stated in at least two different interviews between January and February that Mr Obi was “moving against the direction of winning any election in this country.”

In January, Mr Jimbo, in an interview said that Mr Obi would never win the 2027 election because he was “unpatriotic” rather than offering “constructive opposition”. He accused Mr Obi of always projecting the country in a bad light.

A month later in an interview with TheCable, Mr Jimbo said “Peter Obi is only making noise. He cannot win any election in Nigeria”.

He went further when asked specifically about Mr Obi’s polling unit. “He is not going to win his polling unit, mark my words,” he said.

But on Thursday, 24 September, Mr Jimbo’s own political future appeared to encounter resistance when Emmanuel Enoidem, an APC chieftain in Akwa Ibom, called on residents at a project commissioning in Etim Ekpo to support the lawmaker’s return to the House in 2027.

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The crowd responded with “No,” according to a video reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Enoidem is a former national legal adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party and a senior advocate of Nigeria. He is also a close ally of Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State.

Mr Enoidem, at the event, made a series of increasingly emphatic appeals for Mr Jimbo’s re-election.

“It will amount to rebellion for you not to vote all the candidates of APC and Clement Jimbo is one of them,” he told the gathering.

“We will return him whether you like it or not.” He repeated, “We will return him,” several times.

“We will not be afraid to mention Clement Jimbo. We will mention the name as many times as possible until the name becomes part and parcel of you. We will return Clement Jimbo in 2027,” Mr Enoidem said.

Mr Enoidem contested the Akwa Ibom North-West Senate seat in 2023 against Godswill Akpabio who emerged winner and later became the president of the Senate.

At the said event, when the camera panned to the audience, some were seen waving their hands in apparent disapproval of Mr Enoidem’s attempt to canvass support for Mr Jimbo.

Mr Enoidem then asked the gathering: “Do you love me? Have you been following me? Have you been listening to me?”

He again said: “We will return Clement Jimbo.”

Jimbo’s prediction about Obi

In the February interview, Mr Jimbo dismissed the political strength of Mr Obi, the 2023 Labour Party’s presidential candidate, who later joined the African Democratic Congress.

Mr Jimbo said Mr Obi had moved between political parties without building a sufficiently strong political structure.

“Peter Obi is only making noise. He cannot win any election in Nigeria,” he said.

The federal lawmaker challenged Mr Obi to identify his party agent in his (Jimbo’s own) polling unit in Abak Urban Ward 1.

“That was why it was a problem for them when the court asked them to produce copies of the results,” he said.

Mr Jimbo concluded his argument with a specific prediction: “He is not going to win his polling unit, mark my words.”

Asked whether Mr Obi was irrelevant in the 2027 election, Mr Jimbo responded that he could not win his polling unit.

Enoidem’s ‘whether you like it or not’ remark

The language used by Mr Enoidem at the Etim Ekpo event has, meanwhile, raised questions about the extent to which party leaders can demand loyalty from party members and the public while voters retain the right to choose candidates at an election.

Responding to PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry, Mr Enoidem said the statement had been misunderstood.

He said the gathering at the model school at Utu Nsekhe/Utu Ikot Eboro was attended by APC members and was not an ordinary event for other voters.

“You need to know that everyone who gathered at the Model School at Utu Nsekhe/Utu Ikot Eboro in Etim Ekpo LGA to witness the commissioning of that school is a card carrying member of the APC. They were not mere voters but party members,” he said.

However, PREMIUM TIMES has observed overtime that project commissioning in Akwa Ibom usually have participants beyond party loyalists.

Mr Enoidem said party members were bound by the party’s constitution and described voting for another party’s candidate as one of the manifestations of anti-party activity.

“Anti-party is a rebellion against the party and is lawfully punishable by the political party either by suspension, expulsion and or any form of deprivation of the rights and privileges that a party member otherwise enjoys,” he said.

Explaining his “whether you like it or not” remark, he said it was directed at APC members and intended to emphasise party loyalty.

“A party member has no option in voting for his party candidate,” Mr Enoidem said.

He, however, acknowledged the right of voters generally to make their own choices.

“Of course my response is that I recognise the right of every voter to exercise their franchise freely for a candidate of their choice,” he said.

He distinguished between ordinary voters and party members, arguing that APC members had a duty to support the party’s candidate.

‘The majority of the people are with us’

Mr Jimbo, in his response to PREMIUM TIMES, dismissed the conduct of the crowd at the event as evidence of major opposition to his re-election.

“That is not the truth on ground,” he said.

“In a democratic setting such as this one, it is very okay to have a dissenting voice. That’s the beauty of it. Everybody must not agree with you.”

He said he remained confident of returning to the House of Representatives in 2027 because of what he described as his record of representation.

“My return to the Green Chamber in 2027 does not have any resistance strong enough to overcome the majority of voters willing to vote for us,” he said.

Mr Jimbo cited the construction of schools, solar-powered boreholes, grants to women, youth empowerment programmes, solar streetlights and bursaries among projects he said would earn him voters’ support.

He also said projects had been implemented across all 31 wards in the constituency.

Asked whether voters should be the ones to determine whether he returns to the National Assembly, Mr Jimbo said: “Absolutely yes. That’s democracy!”

“Everyone should support and campaign for the candidate of their choice. On the Election Day, vote for your candidate,” he said.

He added that votes would be collated and the Independent National Electoral Commission would determine and announce the winner.

Why some constituents are opposed

Mr Enoidem acknowledged that there are disagreements between Mr Jimbo and some constituents in Etim Ekpo.

“I don’t think anything unusual or irredeemable has happened. It is the usual political contentions and disagreement,” he said.

He identified complaints over zoning as one of the issues.

“The major complaints are that the position should have gone to Ika based on the history of zoning in the area,” Mr Enoidem said.

He also cited complaints that Mr Jimbo had not consulted widely enough and had not sufficiently empowered youths.

He said there was still time to resolve the disagreements before the election.

“I am sure he is aware of the complaints and the need for deeper and further consultations,” he said.

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Mr Enoidem also appealed to youths to give the lawmaker another opportunity.

“I pray our people especially the youths to exercise some restraint and exercise patience to give him a second chance,” he said.

This is not the first time Mr Jimbo has been the focus of controversy. Last year, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the federal lawmaker faced criticism for using the ADC plane crash to mock the coalition against Tinubu.

From PDP legal chief to APC defender

Mr Enoidem’s intervention is also notable because of his political history.

He served as national legal adviser of the PDP during the 2019 general elections and was part of the party’s legal team that challenged the victory of Muhammadu Buhari and the APC in the presidential election.

Mr Enoidem previously opposed “electoral intimidations” that suppress the wishes of the people. In 2019, when there were reported fears that “federal might” might be deployed during elections in Akwa Ibom, Mr Enoidem said, “Election is supposed to be a civil responsibility in a peaceful environment where voters exercise their franchise.”

He was conferred with the rank of senior advocate of Nigeria in November 2023.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Enoidem initially did not follow Governor Eno when the governor defected from the PDP to the APC in June 2025. He eventually joined the APC in January 2026 at Etim Ekpo.

At Thursday’s event, he positioned himself firmly behind the APC’s candidate in the federal constituency, arguing that those at the project inauguration were expected to support Mr Jimbo.

The audience’s apparent rejection of that appeal now puts Mr Jimbo’s own political contest under scrutiny less than five months before the 2027 elections.

Mr Jimbo, however insists the majority of voters in Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika will return him to the House in 2027.