Baba-Ahmed’s Criticism Of Obi Linked To Political Trauma – Okonkwo

Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesperson for the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has said Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed may be suffering from 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 statement during an interview on Arise TV’s Daybreak on Tuesday while reacting to Baba-Ahmed’s recent criticism of Obi and other leading contenders for the 2027 presidential election.

Baba-Ahmed, who was Obi’s running mate under the Labour Party in 2023, had said none of the leading presidential candidates had the capacity to move Nigeria forward.

Reacting, Okonkwo said Baba-Ahmed’s experience during the 2023 campaign and the subsequent crisis in the Labour Party may have influenced his current position on 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 said members of the 2023 political movement entered the campaign with high expectations that it would usher in a new direction for the country.

“After working with Peter Obi, you run the risk of suffering that, because we all came in in 2023 with high hopes, and we thought that a new Nigeria is birthed,” he said.

According to Okonkwo, the support Obi enjoyed during the election was different from conventional political mobilisation because many supporters were motivated by what they could contribute to the movement rather than what they expected to gain.

“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.

He, however, blamed the subsequent disillusionment among some supporters on what he described as Obi’s “incompetence and incapacity” to manage the affairs of the Labour Party.

“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,” Okonkwo said.

Okonkwo said supporters had provided the resources required to sustain the political movement but expected 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 said.

He also referred to Baba-Ahmed’s earlier statement that he could no longer do anything for Obi after the Labour Party experience, interpreting it as an indication that the former vice-presidential candidate had lost confidence in Obi.

“That was why in his (Baba-Ahmed) 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,” he added.

Baba-Ahmed recently argued that none of the major contenders for the 2027 presidency had the capacity to move Nigeria forward, saying some of them had previously been part of the political establishment responsible for the country’s current challenges.

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