Peter Obi’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has declared his intention to run for president in 2027 under the Labour Party, Dockaysworld reports.
The announcement was made known during a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party held on Monday, July 21, at its national secretariat in Utako, Abuja.
Speaking at the meeting, Labour Party’s factional chairman, Julius Abure, praised Datti for aligning with the party’s leadership and officially expressing interest in the presidential race.
The meeting was attended by members of the party’s National Working Committee, state chairmen, and other key stakeholders.
Dockaysworld reports that Labour Party has been grappling with internal division, with rival factions holding parallel meetings and issuing conflicting statements. Just days earlier, on Friday, July 18, another faction of the party, backed by Peter Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti, held a separate NEC meeting at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
In the meeting, Nenadi Usman was confirmed as the interim national chairman of the party.
However, in a statement jointly signed by Julius Abure and the party’s national secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, the Abure-led faction dismissed the Transcorp gathering as illegal and unconstitutional.
They insisted that only the national chairman and secretary are empowered to convene NEC meetings, citing relevant sections of the Labour Party constitution and the Electoral Act.
They further stated that the Labour Party had held its national convention in March 2024, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in April 2025, thereby confirming the legitimacy of the current leadership.
The Abure-led NEC declared that the Labour Party would not enter into any coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections, arguing that the experience of 2023 was enough and that the party must focus on rebuilding and consolidating its own identity and values.
Datti, while addressing the gathering, reaffirmed his loyalty to the Labour Party despite having attended some coalition meetings involving other opposition figures. He described himself as a peacemaker and expressed hope that the divisions within the party could be resolved.
“I must say, in the past, a coalition was made and a Nigerian government was voted out,” he noted.
“I note with pleasure that this is what we as the Labour Party did in 2023 and what we are about to do again in 2027. However, the government that follows is even more important than the act of removing the government itself. A government was removed and what followed was disaster.”
He also affirmed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, the country’s electoral body recognises the Abure-led group.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, Peter Obi, Datti’s former presidential partner, seems to have totally aligned himself with the opposition coalition housed under the African Democratic Congress (ADC). In recent interviews, Obi confirmed his participation in the coalition and hinted at a possible 2027 presidential run under its platform. The coalition includes several politicians, including Atiku Abubakar and Nasir El-Rufai, and is seen as a major opposition force able to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the next election.
