We Nearly Stopped Tinubu’s Inauguration After 2023 Election –Baba-Ahmed
We Nearly Stopped Tinubu’s Inauguration After 2023 Election –Baba-Ahmed
According to him, there was a constitutional and democratic pathway through which the inauguration could have been stopped following what he described as a breach of the Constitution in the declaration of the 2023 presidential election results.
Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s 2023 vice-presidential candidate, has claimed that he and others nearly succeeded in preventing the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu after the 2023 presidential election, which he alleged was won by the Labour Party ticket of Peter Obi and himself.
Baba-Ahmed made the claim in an interview on The Mic-On podcast, anchored by Seun Okinbaloye, while reflecting on the 2023 presidential election, the state of Nigeria’s opposition parties and the prospects of defeating Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
According to him, there was a constitutional and democratic pathway through which the inauguration could have been stopped following what he described as a breach of the Constitution in the declaration of the 2023 presidential election results.
“I was the only one speaking about the constitution. I was the only one speaking about constitutional breach. And like I said, if they had worked with me, we could have stopped it. Clean, clean oh! Democratic, legal, legitimate,” Baba-Ahmed said.
He said his proposed strategy involved taking three documents, namely the Nigerian Constitution, the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the proposed constitutional solution, to Washington, D.C. and other international centres to make the case.
Baba-Ahmed specifically referred to Section 134(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution, arguing that the 2023 presidential election result did not satisfy the constitutional requirements for a candidate to be declared president.
He further claimed that the appropriate constitutional arrangement at the time would have been for then-Senate President Ahmad Lawan to serve as acting president for the short period required for a fresh presidential election to be conducted.
“The democratic solution was that Senator Ahmad Lawan, who was not happy with me then, should serve out the balance of 8 or 9 days. At the point of electing a new Senate President, he is Acting President for the balance of 90 days, during which a rerun election would hold,” he said.
The former vice-presidential candidate also alleged that several prominent political figures and institutions had raised concerns before Tinubu was declared president.
“We had a former president who read out a statement. Nigerian Peace Committee read out their own statement before declaring that result 4:00 AM. 4:00 AM!” he said.
Baba-Ahmed alleged that the declaration of the result at about 4am was part of what raised questions about the process, although he did not provide evidence in the interview to substantiate his broader allegations of electoral wrongdoing.
He maintained that the Labour Party ticket could have prevented what he described as the purchase of political power if Obi and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had worked together within a constitutional framework.
“If you allow it to succeed, not only with their own money, but the money of Nigeria will go into it. And that is what has happened. The might of Nigeria has gone into destroying political parties,” he said.
‘Tinubu will be difficult to defeat in 2027’
Baba-Ahmed said the political environment had changed considerably since 2023, arguing that the use of state resources and institutions had weakened opposition parties and could make it difficult to defeat Tinubu at the 2027 polls.
He said the “might of Nigeria” had been deployed against political parties during the past three years, leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the only major party, in his assessment, with the capacity to dominate the political space.
“The only standing political party now is APC. What they will do at the polls, I don’t know. What Nigerians will do to tolerate it, accept it, I don’t know,” he said.
Asked whether opposition parties could form a coalition to defeat Tinubu, Baba-Ahmed said he had previously preferred a single legitimate opposition party rather than a coalition.
He said that was the approach he had advocated to Obi, but claimed Obi ultimately chose to join the coalition movement.
“I have always been of the opinion that if you have one legit party, they don’t need to go into a coalition. And that’s what I tried to do with Peter Obi. Let’s stand on our own and go our own way. Forget this coalition of a thing. He rejected it and went into the coalition,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also explained why he supported Obi in 2023 despite previously considering other political options.
He said the decision was influenced by his concerns over religious and regional balance after former President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure.
According to him, having another Muslim from the Southwest succeed Buhari would have raised questions of fairness, while handing power from one northern leader to another after eight years also did not align with his understanding of social justice and equity.
He said Obi’s character and the prospect of giving the Southeast a sense of belonging were among the reasons he eventually backed the Labour Party presidential candidate.
Baba-Ahmed said he subsequently campaigned for the Obi ticket across northern Nigeria, including Maiduguri, where he said he made the case for national unity and inclusion.
