The vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has suggested that the coalition formed to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s administration might not last long if certain leaders are left disappointed.
While speaking during an interview on Arise News, Baba-Ahmed raised questions about the unity of the alliance, especially if some major figures do not emerge as the flagbearer of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the party chosen to lead the charge in 2027. According to him, the strength of the coalition depends on how things unfold in the coming months.
He said, “I think we should not be swept away by this coalition.
“You have key players, Peter Obi, I will call him first, Amaechi, Atiku and maybe Nasir El-Rufai, and they’ve come together from diverse backgrounds with a variety of interests.”
He pointed out that the presidential hopefuls—Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and Chibuike Amaechi—are all strong candidates and very close in popularity and political strength. This closeness, Baba-Ahmed noted, could create problems when only one of them gets the party’s ticket.
“And out of these three, you can imagine that Atiku, Obi and Amaechi, clearly are front runners in this. It makes me think, how will the contest be? That’s a good point, because they are very close in the race, very, very close in the race.”
“What will the aftermath of this contest be? That’s why I made the analogy and the example with the Buhari case, who was a distant outlier in the very distant from the park.”
He then asked a key question that may define the future of the coalition: “Now, if one wins, will two others still remain in the coalition?”
The coalition, built around the ADC, is being led by some of Nigeria’s most influential political figures. These include former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi, ex-Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Anambra Governor Peter Obi, and former Senate President David Mark.
