Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has expressed support for Nigeria’s presidency to remain in the southern region come 2027.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday, Baba-Ahmed said his past political decisions were influenced by the need to promote national unity and fairness.
“I welcome the idea of power remaining in the South,” he said. “That’s why, if you recall, I was inspired to run for the presidency in 2019. In 2023, I accepted to run as vice-presidential candidate under His Excellency, Peter Obi.”
He also recalled pulling out of a previous gubernatorial contest in Kaduna as part of his efforts to promote political balance.
Reflecting on events in 2018, he said, “I very much respect and reciprocate what I saw in Port Harcourt. There wasn’t a single candidate that could genuinely lay claim to the legacy of the Rivers, Niger and Benue. In 2023, the whole world saw that I didn’t contest—out of respect.”
Baba-Ahmed praised political figures like Peter Obi and Nyesom Wike for exercising discipline and not aggressively pursuing personal ambitions despite their influence.
“Obi and Wike had the resources, the experience, and the following to contest, but they showed self-restraint. That kind of political discipline deserves recognition,” he noted.
He also made a veiled reference to Wike’s role in the PDP, stating, “That is probably why our good friend and boss, Wike, is doing what he claims not to be doing in the PDP.”
