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Peter Obi Confirms Intention to Run Again in 2027
The Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has confirmed his intention to run again in the 2027 general election under the Labour Party banner.
Obi made the assurance while addressing a group of young supporters in a video lasting seven minutes and sixteen seconds that circulated on the party’s WhatsApp platform on Saturday.
In the video, Obi addressed concerns about ongoing internal conflicts within both the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attributing attributing the unrest to government interference.
“What is happening in the Labour Party and the PDP is caused by the government. Quote me anywhere,” he said.
Obi recounted an earlier experience during President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration when he personally intervened to resolve disputes within his party by appealing to the then-INEC Chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu.
He said: “We had a problem in our party before, in the past. Yar’Adua was the president. I went to him then; he called the INEC Chairman and told him I don’t want any problem in any party. We were forced to fix it.”
He further explained that the problems currently affecting political parties are deliberate disruptions caused by the political system, which he intends to reform if given the opportunity.
“These are deliberate problems caused by the system. These are some of the things I want to clean up if I have the opportunity. Parties will function very well because you can’t have a system working without a strong opposition,” Obi said.
When asked about his choice of platform for the 2027 elections, Obi responded: “I will still continue to run in the Labour Party. I’m a member of the Labour Party.”
Obi also urged Nigerian voters, particularly the youth, to take responsibility in ensuring their votes are counted, noting that while political parties may pay agents to protect their interests, the final authority on vote integrity lies with the electorate.
He acknowledged that efforts to bring positive change will face resistance from those benefiting from the existing political order but encouraged voters not to be discouraged.
Also, Obi expressed his view that there should be a retirement age for politicians seeking public office, noting that by 2027, he would be 65 years old and does not wish to continue contesting elections into his seventies.
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
