I ran with Peter Obi out of sympathy after three top politicians rejected him – Datti Baba-Ahmed

Vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, says it was out of sympathy that he agreed to run with Peter Obi.  

Baba-Ahmed said this duirng an interview with Symfoni. 

According to him, Obi had approached three prominent politicians ahead of the 2023 election, but none agreed to run with him. He said his decision to become Obi’s running mate was driven by sympathy for the ex-Anambra governor and the country’s political situation at the time.

“People don’t understand that between me and Obi, there is a great deal of sympathy. I have sympathy for him. And this sympathy was at the core of our relationship. When he approached three other major politicians in 2022, I would have been glad if one of them had gone with Peter Obi in 2022. But they all avoided him. I felt bad for him and I felt bad for Nigeria as a nation.”

Baba-Ahmed said he voluntarily stepped in because he believed it was in the country’s best interest to do so.

“I took it upon myself because naturally I have always been a volunteer. For the sake of Nigeria, I extended that sympathy to him,” he said