Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has said the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition is weakening because it has not resolved issues surrounding zoning and the rotation of key political offices ahead of the 2027 polls.
Obi spoke during an interview on YouTube with Advocacy for Good Governance on Wednesday, stressing that the coalition needs to establish clear internal agreements and a unified vision for the country.
“Today, I’m a member of the Labour Party, okay, and I subscribe to the coalition, the ADC coalition, for the 2027 election and I believe in it,” he said.
“But as much as I believe in it, I need to know the fundamentals that we all agree to respect. But in all this, there are still some fine lines that we need to respect, where things must be done properly, where we must sit down and talk about where we’re driving the country to.”
Obi said certain questions remain unresolved within the coalition, particularly concerning how top political seats will be shared.
“Today, we have what we can say are unsigned agreements about the presidency, unsigned agreements about rotation of offices. Which is why if you say this person will come from here and this person will come from there, all those things need to be organised,” he said.
“The reason why it needs to be organised is: if you don’t do it, you create confusion for the future.”
He expressed confidence in the calibre of political figures involved in the coalition talks and described former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as his leader.
“I respect all those who are leaders there; of course, our chairman, David Mark, is one of those people I respect,” Obi said.
“I believe he has the political sagacity to lead the party and so many others we have there; people like my own leader, Atiku, someone I have all my respect for, who I believe believes in the good of Nigeria, and wants the best for Nigeria and all that.”
When asked if he would continue supporting the coalition even if he is not selected as its presidential candidate, Obi said his motivation is national progress, not personal ambition.
“I’m not desperate to be president of Nigeria, I’m desperate to see Nigeria work,” he added.
