A former vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has rejected the idea that opposition parties can unite behind one presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election.
He spoke on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he addressed the recent Ibadan Declaration by a group of opposition figures planning to present a single candidate against President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that Baba-Ahmed said the meeting in Ibadan did not include all opposition groups, noting that only members from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) were present. He argued that the gathering could not speak for the entire opposition.
He also questioned the credibility of the move, stating that the claim of a united front was not realistic. According to him, the parties involved do not have the unity needed to agree on one candidate.
The former vice presidential candidate, who ran alongside Peter Obi under the Labour Party in 2023, added that the faction of the PDP that attended the meeting does not represent the whole party, as internal divisions still exist.
He maintained that it is not reasonable for two parties to present themselves as the full opposition bloc, insisting that such a plan is unlikely to succeed.
“I think it is a lie (unified opposition candidate). There is no way they will agree; it is not possible. It is only two parties, PDP and ADC. Now the faction of PDP who went there are the runners-up to Wike,” Baba-Ahmed said.
“Two parties coming to say that they are the entire opposition in Ibadan doesn’t make sense to me and I think it should not even be a topic for you and I to dwell upon.”