Datti Baba-Ahmed Dismisses Obi, Atiku and Other 2027 Contenders, Says None Can Fix Nigeria
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has said that none of the politicians currently positioning themselves to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election have the capacity to improve Nigeria, including his former running mate, Peter Obi.
Baba-Ahmed made the remarks during an appearance on the MicOn Podcast, hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, in an interview posted on Saturday. Asked directly whether his assessment extended to Obi, with whom he contested the 2023 presidential election on the Labour Party ticket, Baba-Ahmed responded plainly that his position included Obi as well. He argued that the leading contenders positioning themselves against Tinubu ahead of 2027, including Obi and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, had all at various points been associated with political parties or administrations he holds responsible for the country’s current challenges, noting specifically that Obi had previously been a member of the Peoples Democratic Party during its time as the ruling party.
Despite his sharp criticism of the emerging opposition field, Baba-Ahmed maintained that Tinubu should not seek to extend his stay in power beyond his current term, advising the president to prepare to hand over office at the appropriate time rather than pursue re-election. He was careful to clarify, however, that this did not amount to an endorsement of any of Tinubu’s current challengers as suitable successors, arguing instead for what he described as an entirely new direction for Nigeria’s leadership.
Baba-Ahmed used the interview to position himself as uniquely qualified among the current crop of political contenders, asserting that he is the only prominent politician who has never belonged to a ruling party in Nigeria. He acknowledged past membership in the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) but stressed that he resigned from the party before it merged with other political blocs to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), maintaining that his political record therefore remains untainted by association with governing power.
Reflecting further on his history with Obi, Baba-Ahmed expressed continued sympathy for his former running mate, describing that sympathy as central to their political partnership in 2023. He recalled that Obi had approached several established politicians ahead of that election, all of whom declined to run alongside him, a circumstance Baba-Ahmed said left him disappointed both for Obi personally and for the country more broadly, ultimately prompting him to step forward and accept the vice-presidential slot on the Labour Party ticket.
Baba-Ahmed has since left the Labour Party for the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), while Obi moved through the African Democratic Congress before emerging as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election. With Tinubu of the APC seeking re-election and Atiku running under the African Democratic Congress banner, Baba-Ahmed’s remarks add a further layer of division to an already fragmented opposition landscape as political positioning intensifies ahead of next year’s presidential poll.
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