Renowned political economist Prof. Pat Utomi on Thursday said he will stop supporting the former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, if he agrees to run as Vice-Presidential candidate in 2027.

He, however, insisted that the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party will contest for the presidency in 2027, following his formal defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Wednesday.

Utomi, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today, urged political actors to limit presidential and gubernatorial candidates to Nigerians aged 70 and below.

According to him, the Nigerian presidency has increasingly become a “Retirement home,” criticising both former President Muhammadu Buhari’s and President Bola Tinubu’s administrations as “government in absentia.”

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His comments were a swift response to Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo’s claim that Obi had already conceded to run as Atiku Abubakar’s vice-presidential candidate under the ADC ticket in 2027; this claim was vehemently dismissed by Utomi.

“I can tell you that Peter Obi will contest for the presidency. The day he becomes somebody’s vice president, I walk away from his corner. I can tell you that for a fact,” Prof. Utomi said on the programme

“Something important about this election to bear in mind is that the Nigerian presidency has become a retirement home where people go for the Nigerian state to pay their medical bills.

“It is not acceptable. They don’t have the fitness to run the country. The last one, and the current one, have essentially been government-in-absentia leaders.”

“I, Pat Utomi, am insisting that I will canvass to the Nigerian people that nobody over the age of 70 should run for an executive position, whether it be governor or president,” Utomi concluded.