2027: None of Tinubu’s Opponents Can Improve Nigeria, Including Peter Obi — Datti

Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said none of the politicians challenging President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, including his former running mate, Peter Obi, can improve the country.

Baba-Ahmed stated this during an interview on the Mic On Podcast hosted by Seun Okinbaloye and posted on Saturday.

The former lawmaker was responding to a question on the advice he would give President Tinubu regarding his leadership of the country.

He said Tinubu should prepare to leave office but argued that he should not hand over power to any of the politicians currently challenging him.

“I will simply advise uncle (Tinubu) to please prepare to hand over and move away, but not to the people contesting against him because none of them will improve Nigeria,” he said.

Asked whether he was referring to all the opposition candidates, Baba-Ahmed said his criticism applied broadly to those challenging Tinubu.

“Tinubu should leave the stage. All those people contesting against him, too—they were all in bed together at some point or another,” he said.

When the host specifically asked whether Peter Obi was included, Baba-Ahmed responded: “Including Peter Obi, I’m sorry to say.”

He argued that Obi had previously belonged to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when it was the ruling party, while questioning the political history of those promising to create what he described as “a whole new Nigeria.”

“Tell me one politician who has never been in a ruling party. Tell me,” Baba-Ahmed said.

‘I Have Never Been in a Ruling Party’

The former lawmaker was also challenged by the host over his own political history and previous membership of the National Assembly.

Baba-Ahmed maintained that he had never belonged to a ruling party, saying he was a member of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) when it was an opposition party.

“I have never been in a ruling party. While I was in CPC, CPC was the leading opposition party, even above ANPP then,” he said.

He further explained that he resigned from the then newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC) after the CPC merger that eventually brought the party to power.

Baba-Ahmed said he never obtained an APC membership card despite being associated with the party during the merger period.

“I never had a membership card of APC. Never. I never had a membership card of APC,” he said.

He stressed that his criticism of the 2027 contenders was not based solely on their party affiliations but on what he described as their political histories and previous involvement in Nigeria’s political establishment.

Baba-Ahmed and Obi were the Labour Party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively in the 2023 presidential election.

Baba-Ahmed later left the Labour Party for the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).

Obi subsequently left the Labour Party, joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and later moved to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), which has named him its presidential candidate for the 2027 election.