Baba-Ahmed, while reacting to the backlash that greeted his earlier interview, noted that his comments were taken out of context.
By Kehinde Okeowo
The 2023 Labour Party (LP) vice-presidential candidate and former federal lawmaker, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has insisted that his remarks during a television interview regarding major presidential candidates in the 2027 general election were taken out of context.
He made this known on Friday during an interview on Trust TV, while attempting to clarify an earlier chat.
During an earlier chat on Channels TV, Baba-Ahmed was reported to have urged President Bola Tinubu to step aside in 2027, but warned him not to hand over power to any candidate contesting against him because they were unfit to occupy the office. He further alleged that he had warned Obi against dumping the LP for the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Speaking on the Mic On Podcast, Baba-Ahmed had said: “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. All those people contesting against him were all in bed together at some point or another—including Peter Obi. At some point, he was in the PDP.”
Following the interview, Nigerians slammed Baba-Ahmed for making such a statement, especially close to the 2027 election, with some accusing him of fronting for President Tinubu.
ALSO READ: NDC urges Datti Baba-Ahmed to move on, says Obi has made his decision
Criticising his comments on the programme, the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) Director of New Media and Strategic Communications, Theo Abu Agada, advised the former legislator to move on after parting ways with Obi.
Taking to his verified handle, he wrote: “Since the presidential candidate of our great party, the NDC, His Excellency Peter Obi, made the idealistic and pragmatic decision to choose His Excellency Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed has been going from one platform to another, attacking and undermining him.”
Agada added: “Datti needs to move on. Obi has made his decision, and Datti should respect it.”
However, while clarifying his earlier statement, Baba-Ahmed stated that he had initially told the interviewer what he wanted the discussion to focus on. He went on to say that when the anchor kept asking questions about other presidential candidates, he became distracted from his main point.
”Channels Television’s Seun asked me what advice I would give to President Tinubu. I responded that Tinubu should prepare to hand over power for the sake of fairness, so as not to unduly advantage Atiku Abubakar.
”While I was rushing, Seun added ‘including Peter Obi’ to the question. Because of time and stress, I responded, ‘yes.’ And that is what Nigerians took.
”This was the context behind the remark that was reported as ‘Peter Obi can’t improve Nigeria’,” Baba-Ahmed explained.
