Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has said none of the leading opposition candidates in the 2027 presidential election has the capacity to improve Nigeria.
Baba-Ahmed, who was Peter Obi’s running mate in 2023, made the statement while speaking on the MicOn Podcast on Saturday.
President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, is seeking a second term in office, while Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) are expected to be among his major challengers.
According to Baba-Ahmed, the leading contenders have all been part of Nigeria’s political establishment and cannot provide the fundamental change the country needs.
“I will simply advise uncle (Tinubu) to please prepare to hand over and move away, but not to the people contesting against him,” he said.
“Because none of them will improve Nigeria. All those people contesting against him too were all in bed together at some point or another — including Peter Obi. At some point, he was in PDP.”
Baba-Ahmed said he was advocating for a “new Nigeria,” describing himself as the only politician among the major contenders who had never belonged to a ruling party.
“Tell me one politician who has never been in a ruling party. I’m the one. Have I ever been in a ruling party?” he asked.
He explained that although he was once a member of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), he resigned before the party merged with others to form the APC.
“I have never been in a ruling party. When I was in CPC, it was a little opposition party,” he said.
“I never had an APC membership card.”
Baba-Ahmed also commented on the controversy surrounding Tinubu’s records in the United States, questioning why Atiku had taken a leading role in challenging the president over the issue despite previously remaining silent about it.
The former lawmaker said Tinubu had been given an opportunity to lead the country but should not seek to extend his stay in power.
He accused the president of weakening Nigeria’s political parties and said Tinubu had “qualified himself for divine intervention.”
“All he did in three years was to destroy political parties,” Baba-Ahmed said.
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