Former Labour Party (LP) vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has openly dismissed the African Democratic Congress (ADC)-led coalition of opposition parties, describing it as misleading and without genuine intent.
In a live interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Baba-Ahmed made his position clear when asked about the coalition’s role in Nigeria’s political future.
“They are deceiving us,” he bluntly declared, while distancing himself from the movement.
According to him, he remains firmly committed to the Labour Party and its 2023 presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi. “I am a Labour Party man, for God’s sake. I am Peter Obi’s man. I still want Peter Obi to come back to the Labour Party and contest in 2027,” Baba-Ahmed stated.
The politician, who is also a former senator, shifted attention to Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), stressing the urgent need for competence and credibility ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He accused the current leadership of INEC of undermining constitutional provisions in the 2023 polls. “Not somebody who clearly read what the constitution provides—25 per cent in at least two-thirds of states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory—but went ahead to breach it and put Nigeria in what it is today,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed further argued that electoral fraud is at the root of the nation’s crises. “The electoral fraud is right now the single most important fact to be addressed in our life as a nation, even beyond insecurity. Insecurity is derived from electoral fraud. Corruption is aggravated by the kind of electoral fraud that we have,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress dismissed his comments. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said: “When he begins to make sense, we will respond.”
This latest political exchange comes at a time when alliances ahead of the 2027 elections are beginning to take shape. okaynews.com reports that Baba-Ahmed’s remarks highlight ongoing divisions within Nigeria’s opposition landscape, particularly around questions of trust and strategy.
