..Clashes with Obi over opposition alliance
By Eshiorameh Sebastian in Abuja
Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, Labour Party’s 2023 vice presidential candidate, has thrown his weight behind the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) by attending its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Monday.
The meeting followed a failed reconciliation meeting between Abia State Governor Alex Otti and Lamidi Apapa, leaving the party’s internal divisions unresolved.
Datti’s surprise appearance at the meeting sent shockwaves across the party, signaling a major shift in the ongoing leadership crisis.
While Peter Obi’s faction had earlier declared Senator Nenadi Usman as interim chairman, Datti’s alignment with Abure’s camp strengthened its legitimacy.
Notably, the Abure-led NEC had planned to expel Obi, Otti, and others for allegedly violating the party’s constitution by endorsing an “illegal” interim NWC.
A senior party member who spoke exclusively with Spear News earlier before the meeting disclosed that Datti has indicated interest to fly the party’s presidential flag in 2027.
“He (Datti Ahmed-Baba) wants to contest”, the source told this medium.
He said part of the resolutions made before the meeting was to expell, specifically “Peter Obi and Alex Otti from the party”.
However, Datti’s intervention halted the expulsion move, with the meeting instead condemning the rival NEC session held on July 18 as unconstitutional.
The NEC reaffirmed the validity of the March 2024 National Convention, upheld by the Supreme Court, and endorsed Julius Abure’s leadership. It dismissed the rival faction’s “Interim NWC” as unconstitutional and urged INEC to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The NEC also approved upcoming congresses, ruled out coalition participation in the 2027 elections, and commended Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed for his presidential ambition. Members were urged to disregard the rival meeting.
“I am honoured to have the privilege of attending this important meeting. The Labour Party is not a party to walk away from. The successes and the history that the Labour Party of Nigeria has recorded are unique and unprecedented”, Datti said during the meeting.
While Obi has aligned himself with the opposition coalition’s adoption of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform, while still claiming Labour Party membership, Senator Baba-Ahmed has sounded the alarm over the broader political maneuvering taking shape nationwide.
He said, “The act of state capture is a more onerous task than causing disunity and disaffection among and within political parties.”
Explaining his stance on the leadership crisis, he said, “I am here as a loyal party member. I am here as a peacemaker. I am also here to reconcile divergent opinions.”
On rumours about political alliances, Baba-Ahmed disclosed that he had turned down secret meetings aimed at drawing him into alternative political arrangements.
“I am very, very proud to say that I didn’t attend meetings of a certain attempt for coalition in Nigeria. Morally speaking, if your neighbourhood invites you to discuss security, you must attend. However, if you attend and you discuss other matters besides that, you are at liberty to restore yourself to your former position,” he said.
He added that although he had listened to coalition conversations, he remained firmly in the LP. “I have attended, and I have listened to the coalition agenda. Yet I still remain in the Labour Party. I am not one to walk into any political arrangements,” he said.
He urged LP members not to feel compelled into any alliances they are unsure of. “I call on all well-meaning politicians and members of the Labour Party not to walk and allow themselves to get into what they still are not comfortable with,” he advised.
“Having said that, I am here as a son of the Labour Party,” Datti stated.
In its resolutions, the NEC commended Baba-Ahmed for standing with the Abure-led leadership and for declaring his interest in the 2027 general election.
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