Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has declared that none of the politicians preparing to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election is capable of transforming Nigeria, including his former political ally, Peter Obi.
Baba-Ahmed made the remarks during an interview on the Mic On Podcast hosted by Seun Okinbaloye and published on Saturday.
Responding to a question about the advice he would offer President Tinubu on his administration, the former lawmaker said the President should prepare to leave office but should not transfer power to any of the politicians currently positioning themselves to succeed 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,” Baba-Ahmed said.
Asked whether his assessment applied to all the opposition figures seeking the presidency, he maintained that the politicians challenging Tinubu had, at one time or another, been associated with the political establishment.
“Tinubu should leave the stage. All those people contesting against him, too—they were all in bed together at some point or another,” he stated.
When specifically asked if Peter Obi was included in his assessment, Baba-Ahmed responded in the affirmative.
“Including Peter Obi, I’m sorry to say,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed argued that Obi’s previous membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, which was the ruling party at the time, was part of the reason for his position.
He said Nigeria needed a fundamentally different political direction rather than a change involving politicians who had previously operated within established ruling parties.
“Tell me one politician who has never been in a ruling party. Tell me,” he challenged.
The former lawmaker was subsequently reminded by Okinbaloye that he had also participated actively in politics and served in the National Assembly.
In response, Baba-Ahmed insisted that he had never belonged to a ruling political party.
He explained that while he was a member of the Congress for Progressive Change, the party remained in opposition and had not controlled the Federal Government.
According to him, he also resigned from the All Progressives Congress after the CPC merged with other parties to form the APC and the coalition eventually assumed power at the federal level.
“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.
Baba-Ahmed further maintained that he never obtained an APC membership card despite being associated with the party during the merger period.
He stressed that his position was not simply about party membership but was based on what he described as the political history and previous affiliations of the individuals seeking to unseat 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 and joined the Peoples Redemption Party.
Obi, meanwhile, moved to the African Democratic Congress and was subsequently adopted by the Nigeria Democratic Congress as its presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
