ABUJA — Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesperson for the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has said Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed may be experiencing what he described as a “post-political identity crisis” following his experience as Peter Obi’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election.
Okonkwo made the comment during an interview on Arise TV’s Daybreak on Tuesday while reacting to Baba-Ahmed’s recent assessment of the leading contenders for the 2027 presidential election.
Baba-Ahmed, who served as Obi’s running mate in 2023, had said none of the major presidential contenders, including Obi, currently has the capacity to transform Nigeria.
Reacting to the statement, Okonkwo said Baba-Ahmed’s experience during the 2023 campaign and the subsequent crisis within the Labour Party may have influenced his view of Obi.
“I understand why he made his comment about Peter Obi, because we were in the same trenches together, and I can tell you that he may be suffering from what I call post-political identity crisis,” Okonkwo said.
He recalled that many Nigerians who joined the Obi-Baba-Ahmed campaign in 2023 did so with the expectation that the movement would usher in a new political direction for the country.
According to him, the campaign attracted supporters who were motivated by what they could contribute to the political project rather than what they stood to gain from it.
“For the first time in my life, I saw people coming into an association for what they can give, and nobody was talking about what he can take, what he can receive,” he said.
However, Okonkwo said the optimism surrounding the movement was eventually replaced by disappointment following what he described as Obi’s “incompetence and incapacity” to manage the affairs of the Labour Party.
He argued that the internal crisis that followed the 2023 election contributed to political trauma among supporters who had invested heavily in the movement.
“So, if such an association ends the way the Labour Party ended, you will see everybody coming out with political trauma, because that spoke of incompetence and incapacity of the political leader then called Peter Obi to manage the affairs,” he said.
Okonkwo said supporters had provided resources for the political movement but expected effective leadership in return.
“When everything is provided for you, the people are willing to do something for you. They were willing to provide resources. They were only asking for one thing, and that’s leadership. And you could not provide it,” he added.
Okonkwo References Baba-Ahmed’s Previous Comments
The ADC spokesperson also referred to Baba-Ahmed’s earlier statement that he could no longer assist Obi following the Labour Party experience.
Okonkwo interpreted the remark as an indication that Baba-Ahmed had lost confidence in Obi after the party’s internal disputes.
“That was why in his own words, he said after Labour Party, he couldn’t do anything again for Peter Obi. In other words, after what happened in Labour Party, I lost confidence in him. I was there with him,” Okonkwo said.
Baba-Ahmed and Obi contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, finishing third behind Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
With political alignments already taking shape ahead of the 2027 election, Baba-Ahmed’s comments on the leading contenders have continued to generate debate among supporters and political figures.
