…Labour Faction Denies Atiku/Obi 2027 Deal
…Says Obi Will Face Tinubu in 2027 Presidential Election
By Franklin Adole
The Labour Party faction loyal to former Anambra State governor and 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has moved swiftly to disown reports of a secret pact with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, describing them as false, and reaffirming Obi’s resolve to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Last week, KTH Daily exclusively quoted sources at the heart of Atiku’s 2027 strategy, who claimed that Atiku had secured a preliminary understanding with Obi to rally behind his 2027 candidature on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). According to the source at the time, Atiku was said to have promised to serve only one term, push for constitutional amendments guaranteeing zoning, and then hand the presidency to Obi in 2031.
But in an exclusive follow-up interview with KTH Daily yesterday, Ken Asogwa, Senior Special Adviser on Media to the Interim National Chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, dismissed the “deal.”
“While I do not speak for Mr. Peter Obi, I can confidently state that, at the level of the Labour Party, no such pact is known to us,” Asogwa said. “What the party is aware of is that Mr. Obi remains a member of the Labour Party and is actively participating in ongoing coalition talks aimed at fostering the collaborative efforts required to dislodge Tinubu and his rudderless APC government in 2027. This move by Obi received the blessings of the party.”
The Atiku source had also named former governors Emeka Ihedioha, Achike Udenwa, and Sam Egwu as key ADC figures working to persuade Obi to accept the arrangement. Asogwa flatly rejected that possibility, stressing that no deal of such magnitude could have been struck in the absence of Obi’s core allies.
“Currently, the Labour Party has its members in the South East caucus of the ADC who are actively involved in setting up the structures for the coalition party in the region,” he explained. “The party has three senators from the region who are part of the ADC coalition talks, and it will be preposterous for anyone to claim to have reached a deal of such magnitude with Obi without such high-ranking members of his party in attendance. The report cannot claim that Obi sat down with three of Atiku’s allies in the region without a concurrent representation from Obi’s political allies in the meeting.”
Asogwa insisted that Obi had been clear about his intentions. “As far as the Labour Party is concerned, Mr. Peter Obi has been unequivocal in his position that he will contest the 2027 presidential election,” he said.
He also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of masterminding the narrative of Obi stepping down. “This is not the first time the kite of him stepping down for Atiku Abubakar has been flown,” Asogwa told KTH Daily. “We clearly understand that it is the handiwork of the APC and their spin doctors who, out of fear of what Obi’s candidature portends for them, are desperate to deploy every scheme possible to diminish his influence and wide acceptance among the Nigerian people. It is a tissue of lies that does not deserve any premium from ardent followers of our national politics.”
The suggestion that Obi was considering a backseat until 2031, Asogwa added, is inconsistent with the facts. “My point is that the position as it is today is that Mr. Peter Obi has said that he’s contesting the 2027 presidential election and has not, to my knowledge and knowledge of the party, walked back that talk,” he said. “It’s within his legitimate right to drop such ambition tomorrow, but pending when that happens, the position as it is today is that the Labour Party is not aware that he has reached any withdrawal deal with Atiku Abubakar or any aspirant for that matter.”
With this categorical denial, the battle for 2027 may well be shaping into a three-way contest between Obi’s movement, Atiku’s long-standing northern political structure, and President Tinubu’s ruling APC machine.