By Spear News Nigeria
Former Labour Party vice presidential candidate, Datti Baba Ahmed, has asked how NDC vice presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, can campaign for Peter Obi in Kano years after he travelled to Anambra to confront Obi over allegations that northerners were being driven out of the state.
Speaking during an interview on Symfoni TV, Baba Ahmed said the contradiction in Kwankwaso’s past actions raises serious doubts about whether an Obi-Kwankwaso alliance can be sold to voters in the North ahead of the 2027 elections.
“I wonder how Kwankwaso, who flew from Kano to Anambra to go and challenge Peter Obi: ‘Why are you driving out northerners from your state?’ You know that kind of thing. How will he now go to Kano and contradict himself, ‘No, no, no, it’s not what happened,'” Baba Ahmed said.
The allegations against Obi date back to his tenure as governor of Anambra State between 2006 and 2014. Critics claimed that Obi’s administration targeted northern traders and beggars, with some accusing him of repatriating northerners back to their home states.
Obi’s media office has repeatedly denied the allegations, describing them as baseless, malicious and aimed at misrepresenting Obi’s governance record.
According to the media office, what critics characterised as expulsion was in fact a compassionate social welfare initiative focused on assisting destitute individuals and unaccompanied minors from various states who faced severe vulnerability in Awka and Onitsha.
The statement added that there was never any form of expulsion or ethnic cleansing and that Obi maintained strong relationships with northern and Muslim communities during his eight years as governor.
Northern leaders in Anambra have also come forward to clear Obi of the allegations. Mahmud Ibrahim, secretary of the Hausa Community in Onitsha, said the mosque at the centre of a related controversy was demolished in February 2006 during a reprisal attack linked to the Sharia crisis, a month before Obi assumed office.
“It was Obi who visited us at the Army Barracks where we were staying as displaced persons. He later escorted us back to the mosque and donated money towards its rebuilding,” Ibrahim said.
On the identity card allegations, Ibrahim explained that the cards were issued by the northern community itself for member identification, not by the state government.
Baba Ahmed said he personally confronted the fallout from these allegations while campaigning for Obi across the North during the 2023 presidential election.
“I smuggled Peter Obi to Borno, to the Caliphate, to Kano, to Zaria to market him. So I sorted that problem of ID card, mosque demolition, ‘Yes Daddy,'” he said.
He described the effort as demanding, noting that he positioned himself as Obi’s staff and was available at any hour to push the campaign forward.
“Call me 2 a.m., I will jump up. Call me 4 a.m., I will jump up. Call me 6 a.m., I will jump up,” he said.
Baba Ahmed then questioned whether Kwankwaso would be willing to make similar sacrifices, given his political stature and seniority.
“Is Kwankwaso able to subjugate himself? Because I took myself as a staff of Peter Obi. I considered myself a staff. Will ego, will seniority, will all those things allow him to?, he asked.
Kwankwaso has publicly expressed willingness to work with Obi ahead of 2027. In May 2026, he said on Arise TV that he was ready to serve as running mate to any southern candidate produced by the Nigeria Democratic Congress, including Obi.
“If the party decides that I will be anybody’s running mate from the South, I am ready,” Kwankwaso said.
He also confirmed that the party had zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the South for a single four year term, with the presidency expected to return to the North afterwards.
However, Baba Ahmed’s remarks suggest that the path to a joint ticket is not as straightforward as public statements might indicate, particularly given the history of the Anambra controversy and the political calculations involved in selling an Obi candidacy to northern voters.
Baba Ahmed also warned supporters of Obi, known as Obidients, against attacking him over his comments.
“They shouldn’t start that nonsense with me that they will start attacking me because I have more damaging things to say,” he said.
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