Datti Baba-Ahmed, the running mate to Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election, has said Obi moved out of his political “comfort zone” against his advice ahead of the 2027 election.
Baba-Ahmed made the remarks during an interview on MIC ON Podcast, while reaction to the question on what had changed in his perception of Obi since their 2023 presidential campaign.
According to him, he personally advised Obi against joining the African Democratic Congress (ADC), warning that the party was not the right political platform for him.
Baba-Ahmed said he even went ahead of Obi to the Yar’Adua Centre, where he pulled him aside and expressed his reservations about the move.
“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?” he said.
He said he then made his position clear to Obi, telling him that the ADC was not suitable for his political ambitions.
“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,” Baba-Ahmed said.
He pointed to Obi’s subsequent departure from the ADC as evidence that his concerns had been justified.
“Within four months, Peter Obi left ADC,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also said Obi had departed from the political position he had previously taken, noting that he was uncomfortable with what he described as contradictions in political conduct.
“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,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed said he could not have helped the former Anambra State governor to stay back in the Labour Party since he didn’t heed his advice.
“Peter Obi moved out of his comfort zone against my advice. Beyond that point, I could no longer help him,” he said.
Obi and Baba-Ahmed were the Labour Party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively in the 2023 general election, finishing third behind Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party.
