Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, has claimed that he and others nearly prevented President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration following the 2023 presidential election.
Baba-Ahmed said there was a constitutional and democratic process that could have been used to stop the inauguration, alleging that the declaration of the election results breached provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.
Speaking during an interview on The Mic-On Podcast, he said he had repeatedly raised concerns about the constitutional implications of the 2023 election result.
“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,” he said.
He said his proposed strategy involved presenting the Nigerian Constitution, the election results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and a proposed constitutional solution to international centres, including Washington, D.C.
Baba-Ahmed specifically cited Section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution, arguing that the 2023 presidential election result did not meet the constitutional requirements for a candidate to be declared president.
He claimed that, under the arrangement he envisaged, then-Senate President Ahmad Lawan would have served as acting president temporarily while arrangements were made for a fresh presidential election.
“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 some prominent political figures and institutions had expressed concerns before Tinubu was declared president.
He referred to statements attributed to a former president and the Nigerian Peace Committee, while also questioning the timing of the presidential result declaration, which he said occurred at about 4am.
However, he did not provide evidence during the interview to substantiate his broader allegations of electoral wrongdoing.
Baba-Ahmed further argued that the Labour Party ticket could have prevented what he described as the “purchase of political power” if Peter Obi and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had worked together within what he considered a constitutional framework.
Tinubu will be difficult to defeat in 2027
Baba-Ahmed said the political landscape had changed significantly since 2023, making President Tinubu more difficult to defeat in the 2027 presidential election.
According to him, state resources and institutions have been deployed in ways that have weakened opposition parties, leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC), in his assessment, as the only major political party with significant 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.
On the possibility of an opposition coalition, Baba-Ahmed said he had previously preferred the formation of a single strong opposition party rather than a coalition.
He claimed that he had advocated the position to Obi but that the former Anambra State governor eventually chose to join the coalition movement.
Baba-Ahmed also explained his decision to support Obi in 2023, saying concerns about regional and religious balance after former President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure influenced his choice.
He said Obi’s character and the prospect of giving the South-East a stronger sense of inclusion in national politics were among the reasons he eventually backed the Labour Party candidate.
Baba-Ahmed added that he subsequently campaigned for the Obi ticket across northern Nigeria, including Maiduguri, where he said he advocated national unity and inclusion.