- Says Ex Labour Party Chieftain Won’t Get ADC’s Presidential, VP Tickets
- Atiku: No One Is Stepping Down In ADC
- Opposition Slams FG Over Silence On Maduro, Wife’s Arrest By US
Daniel Bwala, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has mocked Peter Obi’s political future, asserting that the former Anambra State governor is currently “politically stranded.”
Speaking in a recent interview on The Clarity Zone Podcast, Bwala argued that Obi’s influence has dwindled significantly since the 2023 general election. He claimed that the former Labour Party (LP) standard-bearer would be unable to secure a presidential or vice-presidential ticket from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), or any other major coalition.
Bwala maintained that Obi lacks the necessary capacity to lead a meaningful political alliance. He pointed out that Obi appears to have lost the loyalty of the lawmakers and elected officials who rode the “Obidient” wave into office.
“After the election, he lost everybody he was leading. He had members in the House of Representatives. How many are there in the National Assembly?” Bwala questioned, highlighting what he sees as a lack of sustained legislative support.
He further suggested that even the executive support Obi once enjoyed has evaporated: “The only governor he had… is the governor with him or with us? In fact, I have not seen one that identifies with him at the moment.”
The presidential aide also took a jab at Obi’s ability to influence subsequent polls, claiming that candidates backed by the former governor have consistently failed at the ballot box.
“All the elections he has gone into across Nigeria supporting candidates… all of them failed,” Bwala noted, arguing that Obi’s endorsement no longer carries electoral weight.
The interview turned toward Obi’s supporters and his history of changing political affiliations. Bwala accused Obi’s social media followers of hypocrisy, noting that they attack others for shifting loyalties while ignoring Obi’s own frequent moves.
“The army of Trojans that he has on social media, they attack people. They say you are two-faced, that you change party,” Bwala said. “But when you say their master and hero has been changing party like a player in the Premier League changes clubs every season, they don’t like it.”
He catalogued Obi’s journey through Nigeria’s political landscape as evidence: “He started with PDP, then went to APGA. In APGA, he came back to PDP. From PDP, he went to Labour.”
Bwala concluded that Obi is currently caught in a political vacuum with no clear path forward for the next general election.
“Right now, when you hear people talk about being between the devil and the deep blue sea, he is between ADC and Labour,” Bwala stated.
Predicting that Obi will eventually have to seek a new, likely minor platform, Bwala was adamant about his prospects: “He will not be the presidential candidate, he will not be the vice-presidential candidate. Peter Obi is going to run on a platform other than Labour and other than ADC.”
Finally, the presidential aide characterized Obi’s 2023 performance—where he secured over six million votes—as a temporary phenomenon rather than a permanent power shift, describing the former governor as an “actor” relying on “make-believe.”
Meanwhile, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has disclosed that no aspirant will withdraw from the ADC presidential race ahead of the 2027 elections.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by Paul Ibe, his media adviser, Abubakar accused the All-Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to intimidate and weaken the opposition ahead of next year’s elections.
He said all qualified aspirants would “present themselves freely” when the party begins its selection process.
The former vice-president spoke amid reports that he was under pressure to step down for a southern aspirant to emerge as the ADC’s flagbearer.
Abubakar said opposition leaders rallied around the ADC to build a credible national alternative to the ruling party.
“Predictably, agents aligned with the presidency are now attempting to destabilise the ADC from the outside—issuing reckless prescriptions about its internal affairs, particularly the choice of a presidential candidate,” the statement reads.
“Let it be stated plainly: the ADC is on a national rescue mission. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, alongside other committed patriots, is central to this effort. Any call — overt or covert — for Atiku to ‘step aside’ is a gift to authoritarian ambition and a betrayal of the Nigerian people.”
Abubakar stressed that the ADC remained committed to “an open, transparent, and competitive process” for selecting its flagbearer.
He said the party is open to all genuine opposition figures, noting that “inclusiveness—not coercion—is the soul of democracy”.
In another development, the ADC has slammed the Federal Government over Nigeria’s silence following recent developments in Venezuela, describing the lack of an official position as embarrassing and unworthy of the country’s status as a leading African nation.
TheMatrix Newspaper reports that the US, on Saturday, launched a military operation in Venezuela, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were later indicted in New York, with Maduro pleading not guilty.
The operation has drawn widespread international condemnation, with the United Nations, China, Russia, Mexico and Spain criticising the action as a violation of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty.
In Africa, the African Union, Ghana and South Africa amongst others have also condemned the action of the United States. Despite reactions from several countries, Nigeria has yet to issue an official statement on the developments.
Reacting to the deafening silence from Nigeria, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, expressed the party’s concerns during an interview on Politics Today on Channels Television on Tuesday.
According to Abdullahi, Nigeria has lost its standing as a principled voice in Africa and West Africa under the current administration, at a time when the crisis in Venezuela represents a defining moment with far-reaching consequences for the global order.
“Let’s put politics aside. As citizens, we feel embarrassed that all these things are happening, and Nigeria has no voice in it. What can objectively be seen today is that under this current administration, Nigeria has lost its stand as a leading voice on the African continent, as a matter of fact, as a leading voice in this West African sub-region.
“What happened last Saturday is a defining moment in international politics, one that has serious implications for the global world order, perhaps since the Second World War,” he said.
Recalling Nigeria’s historical role in global diplomacy, Abdullahi said the country had previously taken clear and courageous positions on major international issues.
“This is Nigeria that we are talking about. This is the Nigeria of Jaja Wachuku. This is the Nigeria of Joseph Garba. This is Nigeria where Nigerian leaders stood on the world stage and took clear positions on issues,” he said.
He noted that several countries within the West African sub-region had already expressed positions on the crisis, whether in support of or in opposition to the developments in Venezuela, but Nigeria had remained conspicuously silent.
“It doesn’t matter whether Nigeria sees it differently or agrees with what others are saying. What we have seen is that Nigeria is nowhere to be found. Nigeria has not said anything. If that does not embarrass you as a citizen, it embarrasses us.
“The diminution of Nigeria on the international stage is an anomaly. It is an embarrassment. It is not befitting of a country like ours that should ordinarily be a leader on the African continent,” he said.
The ADC chieftain also questioned the President’s silence on the matter, criticising the State House for announcing the President’s foreign trip without clarity.
Abdullahi further linked Nigeria’s position to its earlier security decisions, referencing an invitation to US forces to conduct military operations in Nigeria in December 2025.
“By inviting a foreign army to invade your country for whatever reason or to drop bombs, you have already rendered yourself vulnerable. Perhaps this is the reason they are not able to say anything.
“The only explanation for Nigeria’s embarrassing silence at this time is that our government does not have the self-confidence to say anything. It can sense its own vulnerability and therefore does not have the moral courage,” he said.
