Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Kaduna-born politician and Peter Obi’s running mate in 2023, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed has given a compelling reason his former Principal should not accept Vice Presidential ticket in the coalition to unseat President Ahmed Bola Tinubu in 2027, citing Obi’s very impressive performance in the 2023 poll.
Datti Baba-Ahmed who spoke on Arise Television on Thursday night, maintained that Obi is a presidential material that should not be considered for a VP slot even though being a Vice President is not a mean feat.
The former Senator urged the opposition coalition Africa Democratic Congress, ADC, to consider Obi for its presidential ticket in view of his great performance in 2023.
He listed former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and Obi, as top contenders for ADC’s presidential ticket, but said Obi deserved the slot more.
He advised that Obi should not be subjected to become a running mate to anyone in 2027, arguing that it does not really require any coalition to unseat President Tinubu in view of Obi’s votes in 2023 even without any coalition.
He said: “The position of VP is very big. Anyway, I wanted to be, and I was rigged out. But I think Peter Obi should not be a VP, having gotten a disputed 10 million votes,” he said.
Datti Baba-Ahmed vehemently disagreed with the narrative that only the coalition of opposition politicians can defeat President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Citing the 2023 election, he claimed that the Labour Party defeated Tinubu and Atiku without a coalition.
“It’s all about a narrative that was sold out to Nigeria very quickly, that to defeat Tinubu, it has to be a coalition. Coalition is good, but in 2023 we defeated APC, PDP. There was no coalition in Labour Party.”
He argued that the real coalition Nigeria needs is in the ballot boxes and not in the association of opposition politicians.
Datti Baba-Ahmed said “there’s no law that says coalition is the only means through which a ruling party can be defeated.”
According to him, “the real coalition we need is in the ballot box.”
“The real coalition is of votes at the ballot box. You protect them all the way to declaration,” Datti Baba-Ahmed stated.
