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, has what it takes to improve Nigeria.
Baba-Ahmed made the remarks in an interview with the Mic On Podcast, hosted by Seun Okinbaloye and published on Saturday.
The former lawmaker was asked what advice he would give President Tinubu regarding his leadership of the country and the 2027 presidential contest.
In response, Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu should prepare to leave office but argued that he should not hand over power to any of the politicians currently positioning themselves to challenge 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.
Pressed to clarify whether his assessment applied to all the opposition politicians seeking to unseat Tinubu, Baba-Ahmed maintained that his criticism covered the politicians in that political camp.
“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 in his assessment, Baba-Ahmed replied: “Including Peter Obi, I’m sorry to say.”
Baba-Ahmed cited Obi’s previous membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, which governed Nigeria at the federal level before the All Progressives Congress defeated it in the 2015 general election.
He questioned the political credentials of those presenting themselves as alternatives to the current administration, arguing that many of them had previously operated within established ruling parties.
“Tell me one politician who has never been in a ruling party. Tell me,” he said.
Okinbaloye then reminded Baba-Ahmed that he had also been involved in partisan politics and had served as a member of the National Assembly.
In response, Baba-Ahmed distinguished his political history from that of politicians who had belonged to parties in power. He said he had never been a member of a ruling 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.
Baba-Ahmed also addressed his association with the All Progressives Congress, saying he resigned from the party after the merger that produced the APC and before the party came to power.
He maintained that he had never held an APC membership card.
“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.
The former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate stressed that his position was not based solely on party affiliation, but on what he described as the political histories of the individuals seeking to replace Tinubu.
Baba-Ahmed and Obi were the Labour Party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively in the 2023 presidential election, in which their ticket emerged as a major challenger to the ruling parties.
Baba-Ahmed later left the Labour Party and joined the Peoples Redemption Party.
Obi, meanwhile, subsequently moved from the Labour Party to the African Democratic Congress before joining the Nigeria Democratic Congress, which has selected him as its presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
Baba-Ahmed’s comments come as Nigeria’s political parties and leading opposition figures intensify preparations for the 2027 presidential contest, with rival camps positioning themselves for a fresh challenge to Tinubu’s administration.
