Former Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has cautioned the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition against presenting former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate in the 2027 general election, warning that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has mastered how to defeat him.
His comments come amid increasing speculation around potential candidates for the 2027 general election, with Atiku Abubakar reportedly preparing to take another shot at the presidency even though it’s the turn of the south.
While he’s instrumental to the formation of the coalition which has now adopted the ADC, Atiku’s ambition to contest again could pave way for easy defeat for President Tinubu, Baba-Ahmed and others have said.
Speaking in an interview with Trust TV, Baba-Ahmed stressed the need for the opposition to adopt a fresh and unpredictable approach that would catch the ruling party off guard.
“If you bring out Atiku, they know how to work against Atiku, and he is welcome to win. If he wins, we will support him,” Baba-Ahmed said.
“You need that candidate they can’t understand, they don’t know where to catch — that is how to win an election.”
The 55-year-old politician from Kaduna emphasized that the ADC must select a candidate the APC cannot easily counter, warning that familiar faces may offer little surprise or threat to the incumbent.
“With due respect to Atiku, he has consistently contested all the last six elections, and this will be the seventh,” he added.
“Tell me who among us is willing to step aside and support another for eight years before taking a turn?
“Tinubu did it — he supported Buhari before working his way to the presidency.”
According to him, President Bola Tinubu’s political success was not by accident but through deliberate and strategic planning over nearly two decades.
“Any coalition that is coming together has to realise how powerful this individual called Tinubu is,” he said.
“Somebody who schemed for 16 years to take it one day. He has done what nobody else has done. I don’t see among our coalition someone able to plan like that.”
On the internal dynamics of the opposition, Baba-Ahmed said most aspirants are only focused on personal ambition rather than a long-term strategy that puts national interest first.
Recall Baba-Ahmed recently threw his weight behind Peter Obi as a strong contender for the 2027 race, asserting that the former Anambra State governor deserves the ADC presidential ticket, not the vice presidency.
“The position of VP is very big. Anyway, I wanted to be, and I was rigged out. But I think Peter Obi should not be a VP, having gotten a disputed 10 million votes,” he said.
He also dismissed the popular notion that a coalition is the only viable means to defeat Tinubu and the APC in 2027. Referencing the 2023 elections, he argued that the Labour Party was able to outshine both APC and PDP without any coalition.
“It’s all about a narrative that was sold out to Nigeria very quickly — that to defeat Tinubu, it has to be a coalition,” he said.
“The coalition was good, but in 2023 we defeated APC and PDP. There was no coalition in the Labour Party.”
