ADC Chieftain Reveals Reason Behind Datti’s Fresh Attack on Peter Obi

Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesperson for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has attributed Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed’s latest criticism of Peter Obi to what he described as a “post-political identity crisis” arising from their experience in the 2023 presidential election.

Okonkwo made the claim on Arise TV’s Daybreak programme on Tuesday while reacting to comments by Baba-Ahmed.

Politics Nigeria recalls Baba-Ahmed recently declared that none of the leading contenders for the 2027 presidency, including Obi, possesses the capacity to transform Nigeria.

“None of the people contesting will improve Nigeria, including Peter Obi,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed served as Obi’s running mate under the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, with the duo securing significant support from Nigerians seeking an alternative to the established political parties.

However, Okonkwo argued that the collapse of the political structure that powered their 2023 campaign may have left Baba-Ahmed disillusioned with Obi.

“I understand why he made his comment about Peter Obi, because we were in the same trenches together, and I can tell you that he may be suffering from what I call post-political identity crisis,” Okonkwo said.

He recalled the optimism that surrounded the Obi-Baba-Ahmed campaign in 2023, saying many supporters joined the movement because they believed it could produce a fundamentally different political direction for Nigeria.

According to him, the movement was unusual because many of its supporters were motivated by what they could contribute rather than personal political or material benefits.

“For the first time in my life, I saw people coming into an association for what they can give, and nobody was talking about what he can take, what he can receive,” he said.

Okonkwo, however, said the optimism was eventually replaced by disappointment following what he described as Obi’s inability to effectively manage the affairs of the Labour Party.

He argued that the experience created political trauma for some members of the movement who had invested heavily in the project.

“So, if such an association ends the way the Labour Party ended, you will see everybody coming out with political trauma, because that spoke of incompetence and incapacity of the political leader then called Peter Obi to manage the affairs,” Okonkwo said.

The ADC chieftain maintained that supporters of the 2023 movement had supplied considerable resources to sustain the political project but expected effective leadership in return.

“When everything is provided for you, the people are willing to do something for you. They were willing to provide resources. They were only asking for one thing, and that’s leadership. And you could not provide it,” he added.

Okonkwo also cited Baba-Ahmed’s earlier remarks that he could no longer do anything for Obi after the Labour Party experience, interpreting the statement as an indication that the former vice-presidential candidate had lost confidence in his former principal.

“That was why in his own words, he said after Labour Party, he couldn’t do anything again for Peter Obi. In other words, after what happened in Labour Party, I lost confidence in him. I was there with him,” Okonkwo said.