Official campaigns haven’t started. No rallies. No campaign tours. Nothing formal. But something has already entered the space.
In a widely circulated video, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Igboho, made his position clear: “If you know that you are crazy, campaign for one Atiku or Obi in Yorubaland. No more ‘useless’ Atiku or Obi in Yorubaland.”
He urged supporters planning to campaign for opposition figures to ‘wear trainers boots’.
Igboho followed it with a strong endorsement of President Bola Tinubu: “Tinubu for second term; beyond 2027. A 100 per cent. After eight years of Asiwaju, we’ll pray for extra years. Throughout Lagos and Yorubaland, it’s for Asiwaju. We will all vote for him.”
Five years ago, at the height of insecurity in the South-West, he was loud, confrontational and, to many, a necessary voice. He challenged power, accused leaders of failing their people, and demanded something different.
Reactions:
“He wasn’t talking like a politician then. He was talking like someone who felt people were not being protected,” a concerned Nigerian says.
Igboho returned to Nigeria in January 2026 after years in exile following a 2021 security crackdown. His name was removed from the wanted list under Tinubu’s administration. Traditional rulers intervened. He came back.
“Look, if someone helps you, it’s normal to appreciate it. That part is human. But when appreciation starts sounding like you’re now deciding who gets to express his political choice or preferences in a specific space, and who doesn’t… that’s where it changes,” Terna adds.
As the video spread, reactions came quickly, cutting across media, activism and political movements, many of them framing the moment as a test of Nigeria’s democratic boundaries.
Dele Momodu: Veteran journalist and publisher Dele Momodu, drawing on decades of experience around power and political conflict, issued a direct public appeal for restraint:
“My dear brother Sunday Igboho, let me appeal to you to support any candidate of your choice, peacefully, and others will support theirs, freely. Atiku or Obi cannot be stopped by you, or anyone else for that matter from campaigning in any part of Yorubaland or Nigeria as a whole. I respect your choice of Tinubu, as your current benefactor, but please, Aburo mi atata, do not get carried away to the extent of threatening your fellow citizens. You should be preaching peace and not war,” Momodu advised.
Omoyele Sowore: Human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore responded in his characteristic confrontational style, rejecting both the warning and the idea behind it:
“I am not Peter Obi. I will go anywhere in this country to campaign and I want to see who will come and stop me,” Sowore stated. He described the shift as “transactional politics.”
Obidient Movement: The Obidient Movement, representing a large base of politically active Nigerians and supporters of Peter Obi, framed the issue as a broader democratic concern: “The Obidient Movement has watched with deep concern the viral video of Sunday Igboho threatening Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi against campaigning in the South-West, and vowing to push for an unconstitutional third term for President Tinubu… Anybody Can Campaign ANYWHERE in Nigeria,” Dr Yunusa Tanko, the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, said.
Isaac Fayose:
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