Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said his decision to run alongside Mr Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election was influenced by sympathy for Obi after three prominent politicians allegedly declined to join him.
Speaking in an interview with Symfoni, Baba-Ahmed said many people misunderstood the nature of his relationship with Obi, stressing that sympathy played a significant role in his decision to support the former Anambra State governor.
According to him, Obi approached three major politicians in 2022, but none agreed to align with him.
Baba-Ahmed said he was disappointed by the situation and felt compelled to support Obi’s presidential bid.
He, however, declined to disclose the identities of the politicians or the reasons they allegedly refused to join Obi.
Baba-Ahmed also dismissed suggestions that he would automatically follow Obi into any future political platform, including the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
He stated that while he had supported Obi’s presidential ambition in 2023, he remains politically independent and is not obligated to follow the former Labour Party candidate’s political decisions.
The former senator emphasized that Obi does not control his political choices and maintained that his support for the Labour Party ticket was a voluntary decision made in what he believed was the interest of Nigeria.
He said: “They thought I would follow Peter Obi. People don’t understand between me and Peter Obi, I have a great deal of sympathy for him. And this sympathy was at the core of our relationship. People find it difficult to understand me.
“When he, Peter Obi, approached three major politicians in 2022 they avoided him. I would have been glad if in 2022 one of them went with Peter Obi. They all avoided him. I felt bad for him and for Nigeria as a nation. You and I know the reason and I don’t have to say it now.
“I took it upon myself because naturally I have always been a volunteer for Nigeria.
“They thought I would follow Peter Obi to ADC, but I had given enough sympathy then. Obi does not own me. I own my independence.”
