Former Labour Party Vice Presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has revealed he may consider running for president in 2027, but only under specific conditions.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed said he would only contest if Peter Obi and another respected figure from the South decide not to run.
“I religiously supported Peter Obi and I would do so again in 2027,” he said. “Unless certain two people I have tremendous respect for decline to run, I’m not in the race. I’m not driven by ambition.”
Baba-Ahmed, who ran alongside Obi in the 2023 general election where the Labour Party finished third, stated that his main goal is not personal power but to help solve Nigeria’s key problems.
“My key ambition is to stop the killings, stop the stealing, stop the slide,” he said.
While he did not reveal the identity of the second southern figure he referred to, Datti made it clear that if Obi chooses to contest again, he would offer his full support.
Datti Baba-Ahmed, a former senator and founder of Baze University, joined the Labour Party’s ticket in 2022 as Obi’s running mate, forming a youth-driven movement that made waves during the 2023 elections. Though the party didn’t win, it came in third according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) results, marking a strong showing for a relatively new political force.
As political conversations around 2027 begin to heat up, Datti’s comments have added new energy to speculation about the future of the Labour Party and its leadership.
