The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election and former governor of Anambra state, Mr. Peter Obi has reportedly pleaded to become the vice presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election if he returns back to the PDP.
Mr. Peter Obi yesterday visited his former boss, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who he ran on a joint presidential ticket with in 2019.
Revelations from a top political ally of Mr. Atiku Abubakar who was present during the private discussions between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi indicated that the visit of Obi to Atiku has been in the works for a while now, after Mr. Peter Obi reached out to his former boss seeking for a way back.
“What you saw yesterday (the visit of Obi to Atiku) was a culmination of months of behind the scenes diplomatic shuttles by Mr. Peter Obi and his camp to set up a meeting with Atiku Abubakar”, the Atiku ally started.
“The truth of the matter is that Mr. Peter Obi knew that he messed up with the way he ran away from the PDP and ended up scuttling Waziri’s best chance of winning the presidential election in 2023. After it dawned on Mr. Peter Obi that he cannot become president of Nigeria on his own with Labour Party, he decided to look for a way to return to the PDP.
“After Peter Obi left PDP, he has not had any private discussions with Waziri, they just bump into each other on few occasions in public events. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has not been happy with his former running mate and initially was not keen to discuss anything with him. This is why Peter Obi started reaching out to strong allies of Waziri including myself, Sule Lamido that he finally visited too, former SP (Saraki), Aliyu Abubakar and a couple of other aides of Atiku to help set up a meeting between him and Atiku.”
Peter Obi and Sule Lamido
“Atiku Abubakar is a man that easily forgives, so he accepted to welcome back Obi. Remember that Waziri had sometime last year said he was open for an alliance with the LP and NNPP so that we can dislodge the APC from power. He knows that nothing short of a national coalition is enough to defeat Bola Tinubu in 2027.”
“So, before Obi’s visit to Waziri yesterday, Mr. Peter Obi had already agreed to return back to the PDP at a time to be decided later. In return for leaving his troubled Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi extracted a commitment from Atiku to make him his running mate once Atiku picks the PDP presidential ticket for the 2027 general election”, the source revealed.
Podium Reporters further gathered that Mr. Peter Obi had initiated these moves to return to the PDP as far back as February, 2024. According to the Atiku ally, Obi’s move to rejoin the PDP was part of the reason why he was nonchalant to the leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party and was absent from their elective national convention held in Anambra, the home state of Mr. Peter Obi.
“Peter Obi already saw that it was no longer wise to continue staying on a sinking ship (LP) and if you notice he has been distancing himself from the party in recent times”, Atiku’s ally stated
“If you look around the whole setup of Labour Party, the calibre of people there are those who cannot win you a presidential election. In terms of popularity, Obi himself saw the limit of his popularity and that the circumstances won’t be the same in 2027. He therefore had no choice but to seek for a way to return home to PDP”, he added.
The heat in the PDP is increasing with permutations around the party’s 2027 presidential primary already generating intrigues. On one hand, there is an ongoing battle for the soul of the party between Atiku Abubakar’s camp and the camp of Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister.
Even within Atiku’s circles, there is already competition among some of his southern allies on who will become his running mate in 2027 with the recent visit of his 2023 running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa very significant. The anticipated return of Mr. Peter Obi back to the PDP will surely heat up the intrigues.