Datti Baba-Ahmed: North Unlikely to Back Obi, Kwankwaso in 2027

Chuks Okocha and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice presidential running mate to Peter Obi, the candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, has said that there are no signs that northern Nigeria will support the Obi/Kwankwaso presidential ticket in 2027.

He also criticised Obi’s exit from the LP amid its internal challenges, arguing that running from crisis whenever it happens and going on to brag about it publicly was not a sign of good leadership.

Obi had recently, while defending his frequent change of political parties, spoken about how he walks away from crisis-ridden and toxic environments whether in his private or public life.

The former Anambra governor and Kwankwaso, ex-Kano governor, on Sunday dumped the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to join the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as part of ongoing opposition realignments.

But speaking to journalists after defecting to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) at the party’s headquarters, Baba-Ahmed said his position was personal, noting that he still maintains a good relationship with both politicians.

“But it is very unlikely that the North will rally around KO or OK (Obi/Kwankwaso). And this is my personal opinion. I still have an excellent relationship, I have much respect for both of them,” he stated.

He disclosed that he had earlier advised Obi to engage Kwankwaso and other opposition leaders as part of preparations for the 2027 elections, adding that he suggested the recent alliance between the former governors. However, he noted that with the benefit of hindsight, he has realised that it will be almost impossible for Kwankwaso to deputise Obi.

Baba-Ahmed further queried why Kwankwaso did not support Obi during the 2023 elections, asking what had changed in the political equation. He added that there could be a possible leadership conflict in the new alliance.

He stated that Obi tried to get a number of northerners as running mates in 2023 but that they all avoided him until he (Baba-Ahmed) decided to join him on the LP ticket.

“He was avoided serially by others…I felt morally obliged not to avoid him as he was avoided by others. I stood with him,” the former federal lawmaker stated.

Datti-Ahmed maintained that although the idea to contact Kwankwaso came from him, he does not see the new-found political relationship working.

“However, remember, why didn’t Kwankwaso support Peter Obi in 2022/23? What changed between 2022 and 23? You have a vice president that is older than you in age, education, political profile, and many other things…and this is somebody with a burning ambition and temperament. Who is going to be the president actually?” he asked.

On Obi’s departure from the Labour Party (LP), Baba-Ahmed insisted that 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, who I believe in so much, saying wherever there is a quarrel, he will walk away. So if there’s a quarrel in Nigeria; you’ll walk away? These are things that don’t add up,” Baba-Ahmed stressed.

According to him, no matter how gentle a leader is, he must be firm when he needs to, explaining that despite constitutional breaches during the 2023 presidential poll, nobody stood by him to fight the abnormality.

“A leader must be firm. However gentle you are as a leader, you must be willing to fight… Where in the first place do you fight as a leader, (it should be) when they are going to steal your victory. You don’t allow it to happen in 2023. Clear constitutional breach. Only one person, me, was fighting the constitutional breach.

“Nobody spoke about the breach, only me. You don’t do that. 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 so diverse and heated, you don’t want to argue? then this is not your game,” he emphasised.

Besides, he said he wasn’t in the PRP in desperation for the presidential ticket, pointing out that he will support any movement to remove President Bola Tinubu as Nigerian leader democratically.

“I didn’t come here to get a presidential ticket. I came here to fix Nigeria. I came here to drive out Tinubu’s government. That’s all,” he stated.

In his remarks, Chairman of PRP, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said the party believes in justice and fair play and will lean towards public opinion in the choice of the party’s presidential candidate in 2027.