Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential poll, yesterday offered to resolve the leadership crisis in the party.
Baba-Ahmed, who surprisingly attended the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Julius Abure faction of the party in Abuja, said LP must unite and plan for victory in the 2027 general election.
He pledged to lead the move to reconcile the Abure faction with the Esther Nenadi Usmanheaded National Caretaker Committee.
Baba-Ahmed also promised to reconcile the candidate of the party in the 2023 presidential poll Peter Obi with other aggrieved stakeholders.
According to him, the division in the LP does not speak well of the party, which enjoyed a huge following in 2023.
He said: “This, I will do, devoid of any personal interest, devoid of any ambition and devoid of any animosity to any person.
“I believe my boss, Mr Peter Obi, still remains in the Labour Party, and I will sit with him to hold a discussion.” Baba-Ahmed added: “The Labour Party is not a party to walk away from.
The successes, the history that the Labour Party of Nigeria has recorded is unique and unprecedented.” Speaking on the 2023 presidential poll, he said:
“We recorded over 10 million votes, which was later reduced to six million; we all know what happened. I am here as a peacemaker.
“In the past, a coalition succeeded in voting out a sitting Nigerian government. That is what we in the Labour Party aim to do in 2027.”
Baba-Ahmed was with Obi at the unveiling of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) – a coalition aiming to stop President Bola Tinubu from re-election.
He pledged his loyalty to the LP, saying: “I am here as a peacemaker to reconcile divergent opinions.
“I’m very proud to say that I did attend meetings of a certain attempt for a coalition.
“Morally speaking, if your neighbourhood invites you to discuss security, you must attend.
“However, if you attend and they discuss other matters besides that, you are at liberty to restore yourself to your former position.
“I have attended and I have listened to the coalition attempts, yet I remain in the Labour Party.
“I am not one to sleepwalk into any political arrangements.” In a communiqué after the meeting, the group said they were not part of the coalition.
It said: “NEC in session reiterates that the LP will not be part of any coalition for the 2027 general election. “NEC believes that the coalition of 2023 is bigger than any other coalition.
We will therefore rebuild, reconcile, and consolidate the gains of the 2023 general election.”
