2027: Yunusa Tanko Steps Down As National Coordinator Of Obidient Movement Worldwide …Dr Paul Takes Over

By Akinwale Kasali

With a few months to the 2027 Election, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, knowing that there is a lot to do in Northern Nigeria, it has  appointed Dr. Yunusa Tanko as Political Adviser, Northern Nigeria, to NDC Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi.

Tanko’s brief is to mobilize electorates and sell his principal in Northern Nigeria.

Before now, Tanko was the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide.

Tanko’s new role and the hand over of his former role to his successor was announced in a letter he posted to his X account, addressed to Obi and the leadership of the Obidient Movement.

“With deep gratitude and a renewed sense of purpose, I write to formally accept my new assignment as Political Adviser, Northern Nigeria, to His Excellency, Mr Peter Obi,” he wrote.

Tanko described the North as “central to our collective aspiration for a New Nigeria” ahead of the 2027 elections, stressing that his new role would focus on political engagement, mobilisation and coordination efforts across Northern Nigeria, working with the movement’s existing structures and stakeholders.

Recall that for two years  Tanko has led the Obidient Movement as Interim National Coordinator. He was  appointed by Obi in September 2024 — a role the then-Labour Party candidate said followed a consensus that the position should go to the North. Tanko emerged as the most-nominated candidate from among more than 165 stakeholder submissions.

Citing his several achievements from his tenure, Tanko highlighted how he expanded the movement’s presence into all 36 states and the FCT, developing five regional coordinators and a regional collegiate council, building coordination structures across all 774 local government areas, launching the mobilisation platform Obidient.com, and developing an IReV-related election-results monitoring system intended to provide real-time updates from polling units nationwide.

During his time, he had

guided the movement through a turbulent period in Obi’s party affiliations — from Labour Party to the African Democratic Congress in early 2026, amid what Tanko described as leadership disputes and legal battles, and then to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, in May 2026, which Tanko at the time called a “courageous step” necessitated by a toxic political environment and legal uncertainty within the ADC.

He has now handed over the affairs of the Obidient Movement Worldwide to Dr. Moses Paul.

Tanko stated that  his new assignment would require his full attention across Northern Nigeria, and announced that Dr. Moses Paul (“Dr. Mo”) now takes over as National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement.

He described Dr. Paul as part of the movement’s journey from its early days, citing his commitment to civic engagement, grassroots mobilisation and communication, and urged the movement’s leaders, coordinators and volunteers to extend him full support.