The spokesperson for the opposition coalition, Bolajia Abdullahi, asserts that Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) has been involved with the group since its formation.
“Peter Obi has been a member of the coalition from the very beginning. He has participated in nearly every meeting of the coalition,” stated the spokesperson for the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC), which serves as the platform for the opposition coalition, during a current affairs program.
“The reason Peter Obi has not joined the ADC as a card-carrying member is that he requested a leave of absence to finish the election in which his constituents were engaged with the Labour Party – a similar situation applied to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai – and the leadership permitted them to complete the electoral processes they initiated in their respective parties before transitioning to the ADC,” he explained.
On Monday, Ali Modu Sheriff, a former governor of Borno State, suggested that Obi, who was the LP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, might return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and seek its nomination for the upcoming election.
Sheriff indicated that Obi, who has expressed interest in pursuing the presidency in two years, may rejoin the PDP, the platform under which he (Obi) ran as vice president in the 2019 election.
He based his assertion on the premise that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar – a member of the coalition – intends to contest for the presidential position in 2027.
“Atiku has served as Nigeria’s vice president. Therefore, for him, it is either the presidency or nothing. Peter Obi contested under the Labour Party. His goal is to become President,” the former governor remarked.
“I have information that suggests Obi will soon return to the PDP and run as a presidential candidate under its banner,” he added.
The ADC spokesman has refuted allegations that the platform was established to support Atiku’s presidential aspirations.
Abdullahi stated, “What I can confirm is that Peter Obi is part of the coalition. I can also confirm that this is not an Atiku coalition. As I have mentioned numerous times, the ADC is not founded on anyone’s ambition.”
“What is at stake is significantly larger than any individual. I am 56; who is to say that I do not aspire to be president?”
On July 1, prominent political figures, including Atiku, the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, and the former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, among others, endorsed the ADC as the coalition’s platform.
They pledged to remove President Bola Tinubu in the upcoming election.
