Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said the North is unlikely to support a political alliance between Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Baba-Ahmed, Obi's running mate in the 2023 elections, also criticised Obi's exit from the party amid its internal conflict, saying the former Anambra governor should have remained to resolve the party's internal crisis.
LEADERSHIP reports that Obi and Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, recently left the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and joined the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) as part of ongoing opposition realignments.
Baba Ahmed, who spoke to journalists in an interview, maintained that he still has good relationships with both politicians.
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He disclosed that he had previously recommended that Obi engage Kwankwaso and other opposition leaders in preparations for the 2027 elections, adding that he suggested the recent collaboration between the former governors.
"As much as possible, I try to avoid mentioning names at this stage or engaging in anyone's politics. But it is very unlikely that the North will rally around Obi and Kwankwaso.
"I did say that I feel guilty because I was the one who told Peter Obi on 31 January 2024 at John Woods Hotel. After asking him a few questions, I told him, Your Excellency, from this point there is Kwankwaso, there is El-Rufai, and there is another person. I would like to suggest you approach them.
"The business I do now, which started around 2011, was planned as far back as 1996, and if in 2024 you cannot plan for 2027, I am sorry, I cannot continue to be with you.
"So they are going together now with Kwankwaso, it was my idea. Will it work? I think it is a big question. We will wait and see," he added.
He also questioned why Kwankwaso did not support Obi in the 2023 elections, wondering what had changed in the political equation and suggesting that there could be a leadership rivalry within the coalition.
"However, remember, why didn't Kwankwaso support Peter Obi in 2022/23? What changed between 2022 and 2023?
"You have a vice-president who is older than you in age, education, political profile, and many other respects. Who is going to be the president, actually?"
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Speaking on Obi's departure from the Labour Party, Baba-Ahmed stated,
"Someone who got the Labour Party ticket so easily should have stayed to fix the problems of the Labour Party, however difficult they were.
"I stood firm and 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 says wherever there is a quarrel, he will walk away. So, there is a quarrel in Nigeria; you will walk away? These are things that do not add up.
"A leader must be firm. However gentle you are as a leader, you must be willing to fight. If you are not ready to fight, do not 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 diverse and heated, you do not want to argue? Then this is not your game," he said.
