Okonkwo has projected that Atiku Abubakar will win 19 states in northern Nigeria and three states in the Southwest in the 2027 presidential election, according to Business News Nigeria.
The forecast was reported by Business News Nigeria on Wednesday, September 16, 2026. The report did not include the full details of Okonkwo's statement, and it did not specify how the figures were arrived at.
The projection points to a contest shaped by regional voting patterns, with the North and Southwest treated as key battlegrounds. Business News Nigeria's headline frames the estimate as Okonkwo's own, rather than a verified outcome.
Atiku Abubakar has contested previous presidential elections, and any 2027 run would again put northern support and southwestern inroads at the centre of the campaign. The report offers no further breakdown of the states named or the basis for the count.
What to watch next: whether Okonkwo expands on the projection and whether other political figures respond to the claim ahead of the 2027 election.