The Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) has clarified that Labour Party’s Mr. Peter Obi was part of the opposition coalition from its inception, but he is not yet a card-carrying member of the ADC.
ADC spokesman, Mallam Bolajia Abdullahi, Obi has attended almost every meeting of the coalition.
Mallam Abdullahi said this on Wednesday when he was featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
According to Abdullahi, “Peter Obi has been part of the coalition from day one. Peter Obi has attended almost every meeting of the coalition.
“The reason Peter Obi has not come into the ADC as a card-carrying member was because he asked for leave to allow him to complete the election that his people were involved in the Labour Party.
“The same thing applied to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and they were allowed by the leadership to complete the election processes that they started in their respective parties before they come into the ADC,” he said.
Abdullahi further explained that Obi requested a leave to complete the Labour Party’s election processes before joining the ADC.
He also dismissed claims that the platform was set up to power Atiku’s presidential ambition, emphasising that the coalition was bigger than individual ambitions.
Recall that former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, hinted that Obi might return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to vie for its presidential ticket in the next election.
Sheriff’s argument was based on the fact that Atiku Abubakar, also part of the coalition, was likely to run for the presidency in 2027, and Obi’s ambition is to become President.
He hinged his argument on the fact that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar – a part of the coalition – would run for the presidential seat in 2027.
“Atiku has been the vice president of Nigeria. So for him, (it is) president or nothing. Peter Obi ran under the Labour Party. His ambition is to become President,” the former governor said.
“Information available to me is that any moment from now, Obi would go back to the PDP and run as a presidential candidate under the PDP,” he added.
The ADC spokesman reiterated that the coalition was not built on any individual’s ambition, stating, “What is at stake is much bigger than every individual.”
The coalition, which included top politicians like Atiku, Nasir El-Rufai, and Rauf Aregbesola, aims to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the next election.
