Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s former vice presidential candidate for the 2023 elections, has criticized Peter Obi’s exit from the party amid its internal conflict, describing it as a lack of effective leadership.
Baba-Ahmed, Obi’s running mate in the 2023 elections, also questioned whether northern voters would support a political union between Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Obi and Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, dumped the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and joined the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) as part of ongoing opposition realignments.
Speaking to journalists on Monday after defecting to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Baba-Ahmed stated that his decision was personal and that he still has good relationships with both politicians.
He revealed that he had previously recommended Obi engage Kwankwaso and other opposition leaders in preparations for the 2027 elections and that he suggested the recent collaboration between the former governors.
His words: “As much as possible, I try to avoid the names of anybody at this stage or the politics of anyone. But it is very unlikely that the north will rally around Obi and Kwankwaso.
“I did say that I feel guilty because I was the one who told Peter Obi on the 31st of January 2024 in John Woods’ hotel. After asking him a few things, I told him, ‘Your excellency, from this point there is Kwankwaso, there is el-Rufai, and there’s another person.’ I would like to suggest you approach them.
“The business that I do now, which started around 2011, I was planning as far back as 1996, and if in 2024 you cannot plan for 2027, I’m sorry I cannot continue to be with you.
“So they are going together now with Kwankwaso; it’s my idea… Will it work? I think it’s a big question. We’ll wait and see,” he added.
He also questioned why Kwankwaso did not back Obi in the 2023 elections, wondering what had changed in the political equation, and suggested that there could be a leadership rivalry between the coalitions.
“However, remember, why didn’t Kwankwaso support Peter Obi in 2022/23? What changed between 2022 and 23?” he asked.
“You have a vice-president that is older than you in age, education, political profile, and many other things. Who is going to be the president, actually?”
Speaking on Obi’s departure from the Labour Party, Baba-Ahmed insisted the former Anambra governor should have remained to resolve the party’s internal crisis.
“Someone who got a Labour Party ticket so easily should have stayed to fix the problems of the Labour Party, however difficult they were.
“I stood and I earned the wrath of many because I said, ‘Come and reconcile’ in the Labour Party, only for me to hear and read that my former leader says wherever there is a quarrel, he will walk away. So, there’s a quarrel in Nigeria; you’ll walk away? These are things that don’t add up.
“A leader must be firm. However gentle you are as a leader, you must be willing to fight… If you’re not ready to fight, don’t even come out; stay in your house.
“You are going into politics, which is a contact sport, and in a country like Nigeria that is diverse and heated, you don’t want to argue? then this is not your game.”
