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The 2023 Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has threatened to disclose further damaging details about the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, should his online and offline supporters continue launching personal attacks against him over his recent political commentary.
Baba-Ahmed issued the warning while responding to public backlash following his assertion that an alliance featuring Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso would face significant hurdles securing widespread support across northern Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview with Symfoni TV, the former senator explained that his assessment was based on direct personal experience and operational challenges encountered while marketing the Labour Party presidential ticket to northern voters during the 2023 general elections.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the aggressive posture of Obi’s supporters, popularly known as “Obidients,” toward individuals who express critical political viewpoints.
“First, these people (Obidients) are always eager to attack. I said it is very unlikely that the North will support Peter Obi, very unlikely, because I know what I have faced,” Baba-Ahmed stated.
Recalling the early stages of the 2022 presidential campaign, Baba-Ahmed noted that he had to defend the ticket against long-standing allegations that Obi’s administration in Anambra State had discriminated against northern residents by mandating state identification cards.
He further cited political resistance stemming from controversies surrounding an alleged mosque demolition in Anambra State and a leaked telephone conversation between Obi and the founder of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, in which the former governor repeatedly used the phrase “Yes Daddy.”
According to him, those controversies created substantial friction during campaign outreach in northern communities, requiring extensive effort on his part to neutralize negative perceptions and mobilize grassroots support.
He questioned how Kwankwaso—who reportedly confronted Obi over the alleged discrimination against northerners during a past visit to Anambra State—would address those same allegations before voters in Kano State.
“I wonder how Kwankwaso, who flew from Kano to Anambra to go and challenge Peter Obi: ‘Why are you driving (out northerners from your state)?’ You know that kind of thing. How will he now go to Kano and contradict himself, ‘No, no, no, it is not what happened?’” Baba-Ahmed remarked.
The former vice-presidential candidate emphasized that he personally facilitated Obi’s entry into key northern political hubs, including Borno, Kano, and Zaria, to clarify controversies and build campaign structures.
“I smuggled him to Borno, to the Caliphate, to Kano, to Zaria to market him. So I sorted that problem of ID card, mosque demolition, ‘Yes Daddy’,” he stated.
Maintaining his position, Baba-Ahmed insisted that unaddressed issues from the 2023 election cycle could still hinder Obi’s political prospects across the North, reiterating his skepticism regarding the viability of an Obi-Kwankwaso ticket in the region.
Warning supporters of the former Anambra governor against further public hostility toward his person, Baba-Ahmed cautioned that he possessed additional sensitive information regarding the campaign.
“They (Obidients) shouldn’t start that nonsense with me that they will start attacking me because I have more damaging things to say,” he warned.
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