Peter Obi’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has stated that the former Governor of Anambra State is deserving of being the presidential candidate of the newly formed African Democratic Congress coalition.
According to Baba-Ahmed, Obi should not run as a vice presidential candidate due to his performance in the 2023 election.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Thursday, the former Vice Presidential candidate stated that the coalition’s presidential ticket is between the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and Obi.
Despite considering the three politicians as frontrunners in the coalition, Baba-Ahmed maintained that Obi should not be a deputy to anyone for the 2027 election.
“The position of VP is very big. Anyway, I wanted to be, and I was rigged out. But I think Peter Obi should not be a VP, having gotten a disputed 10 million votes,” he said.
The Kaduna politician also disagreed with the narrative that only the coalition of opposition politicians can defeat President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Citing the 2023 election, he claimed that the Labour Party defeated Tinubu and Atiku without a coalition.
“It’s all about a narrative that was sold out to Nigeria very quickly, that to defeat Tinubu, it has to be a coalition. Coalition is good, but in 2023 we defeated APC, PDP. There was no coalition in Labor Party.”
Baba-Ahmed argued that the real coalition Nigeria needs is in the ballot boxes and not in the association of opposition politicians.
According to him, there’s no law that says coalition is the only means through which a ruling party can be defeated.
“The real coalition we need is in the ballot box. The real coalition is of votes at the ballot box. You protect them all the way to declaration,” he stated.
Meanwhile, following the launch of the ADC coalition on Wednesday, Obi has declared his defection to the party, but Baba-Ahmed, who attended the coalition’s meetings and launch said he remains an LP chieftain.
