Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has launched a scathing attack on former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed over his claim that none of the major politicians seeking to succeed President Bola Tinubu in 2027 can improve Nigeria.
Sowore said Baba-Ahmed was right on only one point — excluding himself from the category of politicians capable of improving the country.
The AAC presidential candidate made the remarks in a post on his X handle on Sunday, reacting to Baba-Ahmed’s recent appearance on The Mic-On Podcast, where he discussed the 2027 presidential race, his 2023 partnership with Peter Obi and the future of Nigeria’s political leadership.
Baba-Ahmed had advised President Tinubu to prepare to leave office but argued that the President should not hand over to any of the politicians currently challenging him, insisting that none of them would improve the country.
“I will simply advise uncle (Tinubu) to please prepare to hand over and move away, but not to the people contesting against him because none of them will improve Nigeria,” Baba-Ahmed said.
When the interviewer asked him to clarify whether he was referring to all the opposition figures seeking the presidency, Baba-Ahmed maintained his position.
“None of that part. Tinubu should leave the stage. All those people contesting against him, too; they were all in bed together at some point or another,” he said.
Asked specifically whether his statement included Peter Obi, his former principal and the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Baba-Ahmed replied: “Including Peter Obi, I’m sorry to say.”
He justified his position by pointing to Obi’s political history, particularly his previous membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, which was the ruling party before the APC came to power.
Baba-Ahmed argued that Nigerians should not assume that established political figures would automatically deliver the fundamental transformation the country needs.
“Tell me one politician who has never been in a ruling party. Tell me,” he said, while making his case for what he described as “a whole new Nigeria.”
The former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate also took aim at politicians who have moved between political parties in pursuit of political power.
He cited politicians who moved from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress and others who subsequently moved from the APC to the African Democratic Congress, arguing that changing political platforms does not necessarily amount to changing political character or ideology.
Baba-Ahmed further urged Nigerians who consider themselves “good Nigerians” to become actively involved in politics rather than leaving the country’s leadership to established political figures.
He argued that citizens should enter the political system and “dominate the system” instead of continuously allowing people they consider unsuitable to determine the country’s direction.
Addressing his own political experience, Baba-Ahmed said that although he had contested elections and occupied political office, he did not consider himself a politician.
He described himself instead as “a lover of Nigeria.”
The former vice-presidential candidate was also asked about his 2023 partnership with Obi and whether he still believed the decision to run together was appropriate.
Baba-Ahmed said Obi subsequently moved “out of his comfort zone” despite his advice, adding that he could no longer help him after that point.
His comments have now triggered a sharp response from Sowore, who was himself a presidential candidate in the 2023 election and is positioning himself for another presidential contest in 2027.
Reacting to Baba-Ahmed, Sowore wrote: “This bozo and military apologist, the empty airhead Ahmed Datti, says @PeterObi, @Atiku and the others can’t improve Nigeria, well with the exception of myself. On that point, he is right.”
Sowore then escalated his criticism by alleging that Baba-Ahmed already knew during the 2023 campaign that Obi was incapable of delivering the political transformation Nigerians were demanding.
“He knew Peter Obi, whom he deputized, was a packaged fraud. That needs no repeating, he just revealed what he knew up close,” Sowore alleged.
The statement marks one of the sharpest attacks yet by Sowore against his former fellow presidential candidate, while also reopening questions surrounding the internal dynamics of the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential campaign.
Sowore also recalled the presidential candidates’ Peace Accord signing in 2023, claiming that he sat beside Baba-Ahmed during the event and observed what he described as the former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate’s favourable disposition towards Tinubu.
“I sat next to Datti in 2023 at the Peace Accord signing and watched him fawning over @officialabat Tinubu. I tweeted right there that these guys were working for their uncle, Tinubu. Their followers couldn’t handle the truth then,” Sowore claimed.
The AAC candidate’s response effectively placed him outside the group of opposition figures Baba-Ahmed criticised, with Sowore presenting himself as a distinct alternative to the established political actors expected to feature prominently in the 2027 contest.
Baba-Ahmed’s comments had sought to broaden the debate beyond individual candidates, arguing that Nigeria’s problems cannot be solved simply by replacing one established politician with another.
His position was that Nigerians need a new generation of citizens to enter politics and take control of the political system rather than relying solely on familiar names.
Sowore, however, has seized on the remarks to question Baba-Ahmed’s assessment of the politicians he once worked with, particularly his former partnership with Obi.
The clash comes as political discussions around the 2027 presidential election continue to intensify, with Tinubu, Obi, Atiku Abubakar, Sowore and other political figures featuring prominently in debates over who should lead Nigeria after the next election.
While Baba-Ahmed has argued that none of the politicians currently challenging Tinubu represents the fundamental political break Nigeria needs, Sowore has sought to distinguish his own candidacy from the political establishment he routinely criticises.
The latest exchange therefore adds another layer to the increasingly contentious debate over the opposition’s direction ahead of 2027, as political figures who shared common ground during the 2023 election increasingly draw sharp distinctions between themselves.
Sowore ended his reaction with a direct appeal to Nigerian voters: “Vote wisely!”