Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has revealed that he foresaw former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai’s current political alignment with the emerging opposition coalition—two years before it happened.
Speaking on Prime Time with Arise Television on Thursday night, Baba-Ahmed disclosed that he had shared his prediction with former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, long before El-Rufai’s recent political moves.
“I had predicted that El-Rufai was headed this way,” he said. “There are many correct calculations that I did that have come true. I said he would come into some form of a coalition and try to play the kind of role he is playing today.”
Baba-Ahmed, a seasoned political strategist and former Director of Research and Strategy for the PDP during the 2018–2019 election cycle, also expressed readiness to support any presidential candidate that emerges from the proposed opposition coalition—provided the selection process is credible.
“I need to see a very clean and transparent primary… I’m a good team player, and at the end of the day, there’s only so much you humans can do,” he stated. “If I’m in the coalition and a candidate emerges based on acceptable practices, I will readily work with that person. It doesn’t have to be Obi.”
Reflecting on the 2023 election season, Baba-Ahmed explained his reasons for stepping back from the PDP and joining forces with Obi in the Labour Party. “I didn’t want a presidential contest coming from the North in 2023. I thought of contesting for governor but pulled out when I saw the kind of primaries that were to be held. The next day, Peter Obi also left the PDP.”
While reaffirming his respect and alignment with Obi, he emphasized his principled stance: “If he contests in the coalition and wins, I will give him the support. I have Obi.”
However, Baba-Ahmed strongly cautioned Nigerians against falling for what he described as the “repackaging of certified failures as reformers.”
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