Fault Obi’s leadership, talent management
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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Former key officials of the 2023 Presidential Campaign Council of the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi, have declared support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, launching a new political platform, Batified Obidients, to mobilise support for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The former campaign officials, who announced their defection at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, attributed their decision to what they described as leadership shortcomings, poor management of competent personnel and unresolved internal conflicts within the Obi-Datti campaign organisation.
They also expressed support for the Tinubu administration’s reform agenda, arguing that despite the economic hardship associated with some of its policies, the government had initiated changes they believed could lay the foundation for long-term national development.
The group is led by former Director of Operations of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Adesina Fagbenro-Byron, who now serves as its National Coordinator of Batified Obidients, while Fabian Ozoigbo Chukwudoruo, former head of logistics of the Obi-Datti campaign, is the Deputy National Coordinator who read the keynote address at the press conference.
Declaring their new political allegiance, the group said it had adopted the APC as its platform for the 2027 general election and endorsed both Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima for a second term.
“Today, we have made our choice. Let there be no ambiguity. We are coming together again,” Fagbenro-Byron declared in the address read on his behalf.
“We are former Labour Party and Obidient supporters. We are now shifting our support to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and adopting the All Progressives Congress, the APC, as our political vehicle for 2027, under the name Batified Obidients.”
Explaining the reasons for their departure from Obi’s political camp, the group said its experience during the 2023 campaign had prompted a reassessment of the leadership and organisational capacity required to build and sustain a national political movement.
Fagbenro-Byron said members had committed their time, professional expertise and personal resources to the campaign because they believed Obi offered an opportunity to change the country’s political direction.
He, however, said the experience had exposed weaknesses in the way the campaign managed its human resources, accommodated different interests and resolved internal disagreements.
“After months of honest reflection on what we witnessed from inside the campaign, the truth became impossible to ignore,” he said.
“We saw real weaknesses in how talent was mismanaged, how diversity was mishandled and how internal conflicts went unresolved. Competent people who offered their expertise were often left unappreciated or unrecognised.”
The former campaign official argued that the shortcomings affected the organisation’s ability to take full advantage of the experience and professional skills available to it.
“Looking back with clear eyes, we have come to see that the demands of leading a country as complex and demanding as Nigeria may have been beyond what Mr Peter Obi was prepared for,” he said.
He added, “This is not to say he did not try, or that his intentions were not sincere. But it became clear to those of us inside the campaign that he was, in many ways, out of his depth without fully realising it.”
According to him, the campaign had attracted professionals willing to contribute to its objectives, but their abilities were not adequately harnessed.
“That vast pool of talent was largely left untapped. The opportunity was there. It was not seized,” he said.
The group, however, clarified that its assessment reflected the experiences and conclusions of its members and should not be taken as the position of all Nigerians who supported Obi in the 2023 election.
It acknowledged that some former Obi supporters had since aligned with other political parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), while others remained in the Labour Party.
Beyond its criticisms of the Obi-Datti campaign, Batified Obidients said its decision to support Tinubu was influenced by its assessment of the administration’s policies and reform programme since assuming office in 2023.
The group acknowledged the economic pressures facing Nigerians, including rising living costs, hunger, insecurity and persistent challenges in healthcare and education, but maintained that the administration’s policies could address some of the structural weaknesses in the economy.
“The reforms have been difficult. They have been painful for many households. Hunger is real. The cost of living has bitten hard. Families are struggling to put food on the table,” Fagbenro-Byron said.
He said the group was not dismissing the hardships experienced by Nigerians but believed the government’s policy direction deserved consideration.
Among the measures it cited were the removal of petrol subsidy, increased allocations to state and local governments, student loan initiatives, local fertiliser production and reforms allowing states greater participation in the electricity market.
It also pointed to the Supreme Court’s affirmation of local government financial autonomy, which it said could strengthen development at the grassroots.
“These are not finished victories. They are the foundations of a country that can produce more of what it needs instead of living forever on imports and artificial prices,” the address stated.
The group also expressed support for the administration’s infrastructure agenda, highlighting projects associated with the Minister of Works, David Umahi, and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, as well as initiatives in the solid minerals sector under Dele Alake.
Fagbenro-Byron said the group wanted to see the projects completed and their anticipated benefits delivered to Nigerians.
As part of its plans for the 2027 election, Batified Obidients said it would mobilise former campaign associates, undecided voters and other Nigerians to support the APC and Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Its proposed activities include membership registration, grassroots mobilisation, political organisation, rallies and campaigns, with particular attention to states where opposition candidates defeated Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.
“We will mobilise our former colleagues, undecided voters and other Nigerians who desire competent and inclusive governance,” Fagbenro-Byron said.
“We will work to grow the support President Tinubu received in 2023, with special attention to states where his opposition won.”
The group said it would collaborate with existing APC support organisations to advance Tinubu’s re-election campaign rather than establish a competing political structure.
It also called on the federal, state and local governments to develop a credible social register across all local government areas to ensure that government interventions reach vulnerable Nigerians.
Explaining the name of the new platform, Fagbenro-Byron said the group was not abandoning its previous commitment to good governance but was changing its political allegiance based on its assessment of the direction required for the country.
“We do not deny our history. But we remain Obidient to the hunger for good governance. We are Batified in our recognition of competence, courage and the direction needed to rebuild Nigeria,” he said.
However, the former campaign officials did not disclose how many members of the 2023 Presidential Campaign Council had joined the new platform or provide figures showing the extent of its reach within the wider Obidient movement.
“We are not here to diminish any other party. We are here to build a broad coalition for good governance and sustainable development on the platform of the APC,” Fagbenro-Byron said.
“For us, the choice is clear: APC and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027,” he declared.
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