Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said none of the politicians currently challenging President Bola Tinubu for the presidency in 2027, including his former running mate, Peter Obi, can improve Nigeria.
Baba-Ahmed stated this during an interview on the Mic On Podcast hosted by Seun Okinbaloye and published on Saturday.
Responding to a question on the advice he would give President Tinubu concerning his leadership of the country, the former lawmaker said the President should prepare to leave office but should not hand over power to any of the politicians currently contesting against 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 his comment applied to all the opposition figures seeking to challenge Tinubu, Baba-Ahmed said the politicians had, at different times, been associated with the political establishment.
“None of that part. 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 he was referring to Obi, Baba-Ahmed replied, “Including Peter Obi, I’m sorry to say.”
Baba-Ahmed argued that Obi’s previous membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, which was the ruling party at the time, formed part of the basis for his position.
He questioned whether any of the leading politicians seeking the presidency had never been associated with a ruling party.
“Tell me one politician who has never been in a ruling party. Tell me,” he said.
The former lawmaker was subsequently reminded by the host that he had also been involved in politics and served in the National Assembly.
In response, Baba-Ahmed maintained that he had never belonged to a ruling party, saying he was a member of the Congress for Progressive Change, then an opposition party, before its merger with other parties to form the All Progressives Congress.
He also said he resigned from the APC after the merger and maintained that he never obtained a membership card of the party.
“I have never been in a ruling party. While I was in CPC, CPC was the leading opposition party, even above ANPP then. When they merged with APC and came to power, you have my letter of resignation from the then, uh, APC because… even though I was, because I have never had a card, a membership card of APC. Never. I never had a membership card of APC,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed stressed that his criticism was not based solely on party affiliation but on what he described as the political history of those seeking to succeed Tinubu.
Baba-Ahmed and Obi were the Labour Party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively in the 2023 presidential election.
Following the election, Baba-Ahmed left the Labour Party for the Peoples Redemption Party, while Obi subsequently moved to the African Democratic Congress before joining the Nigeria Democratic Congress, which adopted him as its presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
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