Nigeria’s political landscape has once again been shaken by the remarks of former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, who has dismissed the African Democratic Congress-led coalition of opposition as dishonest.
Baba-Ahmed, speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, openly rejected the coalition’s legitimacy. “They are deceiving us,” he remarked, signaling his distrust in their motives.
Declaring his loyalty, he said: “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.”
He further turned his focus to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), stating that electoral credibility remains Nigeria’s most urgent challenge. He accused INEC of failing in its duty during the 2023 election, stressing that “not somebody who clearly read what the constitution provides—25 per cent in at least two-thirds of states of the Federation and the FCT—but went ahead to breach it and put Nigeria in what it is today.”
For Baba-Ahmed, electoral malpractice is the root of national instability. “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 asserted.
The ADC, however, waved off his comments. Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, said: “When he begins to make sense, we will respond.”
With political alignments already taking shape for 2027, Baba-Ahmed’s words highlight the growing mistrust among opposition blocs.