Obi Doesn’t Own Me, I Joined Forces With Him Out Of Sympathy — Datti Baba-Ahmed 

 

 

By Akanni Toba

 

 

Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, has said ex-Anambra governor, Peter Obi, does not have proprietary claim on him despite their political alliance for the 2023 general elections.

 

 

Baba-Ahmed noted that he decided to join forces with Obi out of sympathy after three prominent politicians avoided the former LP’s presidential candidate and rejected the offer to be his running mate.

 

The Kaduna-born politician spoke during an interview with media outlet Symfoni.

 

 

“People don’t understand that between me and Obi, there is a great deal of sympathy. I have sympathy for him. And this sympathy was at the core of our relationship,” he said.

 

“When he approached three other major politicians in 2022, I would have been glad if one of them had gone with Peter Obi in 2022. But they all avoided him. I felt bad for him and I felt bad for Nigeria as a nation.”

 

Baba-Ahmed said he voluntarily stepped in because he believed it was in the country’s best interest to do so.

 

 

“I took it upon myself because naturally I have always been a volunteer. For the sake of Nigeria, I extended that sympathy to him,” he said.

 

 

Almost four years after the alliance between Obi and Baba-Ahmed, the two politicians have gone their separate ways.

 

In March, Obi dumped the Labour Party for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a coalition movement purportedly forged by opposition politicians to present a common front and  wrest the reins of power from President Bola Tinubu.

 

However, on May 3, Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano, quit the ADC for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), citing “uncertainties” over the party’s future.

 

Obi left the LP in the heat of the leadership crisis the party was embroiled in at the time of his exit from it.

 

The ex-Anambra governor was at loggerheads with Julius Abure, factional chairman of the party, the rift between the duo was allegedly irreconcilable.

 

 

 

Baba-Ahmed faulted Obi’s decision to leave the party amid its leadership crisis, arguing that political challenges exist across parties and should be resolved rather than avoided.

 

“If Abure was a problem, what makes him think Nwosu or David Mark of ADC will not be a problem? What makes him think Seriake of NDC will not be a problem?” he asked.

 

“So it’s the same thing wherever you go. Stay here and fix the problem and let’s work together. But he decided to move.”

 

Baba-Ahmed added that his political identity is independent of Obi’s, saying their alliance in 2022 did not amount to political ownership.

 

 

 

“With due respect, he does not own my politics; he doesn’t own me. I am independent,” he said.

 

Baba-Ahmed has since defected from the LP to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)