ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has revealed that he warned his former running mate, Peter Obi, against joining the African Democratic Congress (ADC), insisting that Obi eventually moved out of his political “comfort zone” against his advice.
Vanguard reports that Baba-Ahmed made the disclosure in an interview on MIC ON Podcast while reflecting on his political relationship with Obi and the events that followed their joint presidential campaign in 2023.
According to him, he personally advised Obi against joining the ADC, arguing that the opposition platform was not suitable for the former Anambra State governor’s political ambitions.
Baba-Ahmed said he went ahead of Obi to the Yar’Adua Centre, where he pulled him aside and expressed his reservations about the planned move.
“When he was going to join ADC, I had to go to Yar’Adua Centre ahead of him, I called him aside. They were worried. Why is Datti calling Peter Obi aside and talking to him?” he said.
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He said he subsequently told Obi that joining the ADC was not the right political decision for him.
“And I told him, ‘This is the last time I’m coming to this place. I gave him my reasons. This is not a place for you.’ Was I wrong? I was proven right,” Baba-Ahmed said.
Obi formally joined the ADC in December 2025 after leaving the Labour Party, but later quit the party in May 2026, citing the need to reposition himself to contribute more effectively to the country’s political development.
Referring to Obi’s subsequent exit from the ADC, Baba-Ahmed said: “Within four months, Peter Obi left ADC.”
He suggested that Obi’s political journey since the 2023 election had involved decisions that departed from positions he previously held.
“Now, I don’t like people who contradict themselves, and I don’t want to go into criticising again the politics of Atiku because that’s not what I’m about,” he said.
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Baba-Ahmed, who later left the Labour Party for the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, said Obi’s decision to move outside what he considered his political comfort zone meant he could no longer offer him the assistance he previously provided.
“Peter Obi moved out of his comfort zone against my advice. Beyond that point, I could no longer help him,” he said.
The latest comments come months after the political paths of the two former running mates diverged ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the Labour Party platform with Baba-Ahmed as his running mate, subsequently joined the ADC before leaving the party in May.
Baba-Ahmed, meanwhile, left the Labour Party and joined the PRP in April 2026, after announcing that he would no longer remain in a party he believed had drifted from its original ideals.
The two men finished third in the 2023 presidential election behind Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party.