Peter Obi’s running mate, Baba-Ahmed explains withdrawal from Kaduna PDP gov primary

The Vice Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, Datti Baba-Ahmed, on Monday disclosed that he dumped the governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kaduna State because of his ‘principles and hard stance on vote-buying’

The 46-year-old economist made the clarification at a press conference held at Nicon Luxury Hotel in Abuja on Monday.

Prior to his statement, sources said that Baba-Ahmed was forced to abandon his governorship ambition because many Kaduna delegates vowed to snub him at the PDP primaries.

The disgruntled PDP delegates had described him as a frugal person who seeks to aspire to political office without proper ‘consultation’ with them and other party supporters. 

But the founder of Baze University insisted that he walked away from the PDP because of his firm stance on not paying delegates for votes at the primaries. 

He told, “On 24 May, I withdrew from Kaduna State governorship primary under the PDP on grounds of divergent principles.”

One month after he left, Baba-Ahmed explained that he was head-hunted by Labour Party who eventually unveiled him as Obi’s running mate at the party’s Secretariat in Abuja.

He also expressed concerns that a number of impostors have cashed in on his union with the LP to open multiple phony social media accounts after they discovered that he has no single active platform online.

“From June 25, I began receiving indications of a possible calling to serve my nation again this time under Labour Party, which culminated in my Unveiling as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party on the 8th of July 2022.

“I was interviewed by BBC Hausa immediately after the event, only to find contents of the said interview misrepresented by another social media page. A complaint was immediately made, and this page eventually removed the misrepresented news article, but only after much damage had been done.

“Ever since indications began to appear about my joining the Labour Party, more impostors hurriedly opened more accounts in my name, in most cases misspelled or in wrong format. I must acknowledge and appreciate the diligence of well-meaning followers who were quick to observe and object to these accounts on basis of their good knowledge of me, ” he stated.