Isaac Samuel
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the running mate to Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election, has said he warned the former Anambra State governor against joining the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 elections.
Baba-Ahmed said Obi ignored his advice and subsequently moved out of what he described as his political “comfort zone”, a development that eventually ended their close political collaboration.
He disclosed this while speaking on the MIC ON Podcast, recalling that he personally approached Obi at the Yar’Adua Centre before the latter joined the ADC to express his reservations about the move.
He said: “When he was going to join ADC, I had to go to Yar’Adua Centre ahead of him, I called him aside. They were worried. Why is Datti calling Peter Obi aside and talking to him?”
According to Baba-Ahmed, he told Obi that the ADC was unsuitable for his political ambitions and warned him against joining the party.
“And I told him, ‘This is the last time I’m coming to this place. I gave him my reasons. This is not a place for you.’ Was I wrong? I was proven right,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed said Obi’s eventual departure from the ADC validated his concerns, noting that the former governor left the party within four months.
“Within four months, Peter Obi left ADC,” he said.
He also expressed concern over what he described as contradictions in Obi’s political positions, saying he did not want to revisit his earlier criticisms of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
“Now, I don’t like people who contradict themselves, and I don’t want to go into criticising again the politics of Atiku because that’s not what I’m about,” Baba-Ahmed said.
Explaining why he could no longer influence Obi’s political decisions, he added: “Peter Obi moved out of his comfort zone against my advice. Beyond that point, I could no longer help him.”
Obi and Baba-Ahmed contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, finishing third behind Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
