A former presidential candidate of the KOWA Party, Adesina Fagbenro-Byron, and scores of former Obi-Datti presidential campaign coordinators on Wednesday endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term, a move dismissed by the Labour Party and the Obidient Movement.
The defectors, who adopted the name Batified Obidients for Tinubu-Shettima 2027, disclosed that they are officially switching allegiance to the All Progressives Congress after reviewing its experience in the 2023 electioneering campaign.
Other political figures at the declaration included former Labour Party stalwart Banwo Mayowa.
However, the leader of the Labour Party insisted that it could not verify the membership claims of the politicians, while the Obidients questioned the campaign positions they claimed to have held.
Fagbenro-Byron, who is now the National Coordinator of Batified Obidients for Tinubu-Shettima 2027, announced the group’s decision at a media briefing in Abuja.
Addressing journalists, the former presidential candidate emphasised that the new converts had made a choice based on their experience within the 2023 campaign and their assessment of the current administration.
The lawyer started that the declaration was not intended to reopen old political divisions but to chart a new course ahead of the 2027 general election.
He said, “We did not come here to relive 2023. We came here to declare 2027. We did not come here to reopen old wounds but to open a new road. This is not an exercise in regret. It is a declaration of direction.
“We are former members of the 2023 Presidential Campaign Council of Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed. We gave that campaign our time, skills, and genuine belief that Nigeria could take a new direction. We saw the promise and flaws.
“We do not claim to speak for every Nigerian who once supported Mr. Obi or the Labour Party. We respect those who remain with him, and those who have gone elsewhere. But we speak for professionals who walked and worked inside that campaign, saw how it actually worked, learned lessons, and have now made a clear choice for Nigeria’s future.”
Also speaking, a former Head of Logistics of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Fabian Chukwudoruo, said the group initially supported Obi because it believed he represented an alternative to the established political order.
Chukwudoruo, however, said their experience within the campaign had raised questions about its internal management, the handling of diversity and the use of volunteers’ expertise.
He said, “In 2023, we came from diverse places and backgrounds — across the 36 states and the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. We came together to voluntarily support Peter Obi, from the South East because we believed at that time that he could represent the departure from the status quo that we sought. We gave that campaign our time, skills and resources.
“After months of honest reflection on what we witnessed from inside the campaign, the truth became impossible to ignore. We saw real weaknesses in how talent was mismanaged, diversity mishandled, and how internal conflicts went unresolved. Competent people who offered their expertise were often left unappreciated or unrecognised.
“Those experiences raised fundamental questions about capacity. 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 Obi was prepared for. This is not to say he did not try, or that his intentions were not sincere.”
Continuing, the defectors acknowledged the economic hardship and security challenges confronting Nigerians.
Chukwudoruo, however, believed Tinubu’s reform agenda offered a viable path forward.
He said, “We have also watched the last three years with open minds. We saw President Bola Tinubu rightfully declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election — largely as a result of the flaws of his rivals, but also because of his own tenacity, patience, courage, and sense of organisation.
“We saw his government begin, and we saw the regime of reforms he set out to deliver. We have watched those reforms with open minds. They have been difficult. They have been painful for many households. Hunger is real. The cost of living has bitten hard. We do not dismiss these realities. We live among them.”
Declaring the group’s support for Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Chukwudoruo said their members had adopted the APC as their political platform for the 2027 election.
“Today, we have made our choice. Let there be no ambiguity. We are coming together again. We are former Labour Party and Obidient supporters. We are now shifting our support to President Bola Tinubu and adopting the All Progressives Congress, as our political vehicle for 2027, under the name Batified Obidients.
“W do not make this choice lightly because of our common goal: good governance and sustainable development for Nigeria. We believe that, at this moment in our national journey, President Tinubu and the APC offer the most credible direction, the most tested resolve, and the most viable platform to continue the work of rebuilding Nigeria.
“Therefore, we unequivocally endorse President Bola Tinubu for a second term. This endorsement naturally extends to Vice President Shettima, who has equally demonstrated a huge capacity for teamwork and intellect, and who has so far largely dispelled the fears that many had about a Muslim-Muslim ticket,” he stated.
Reacting to the development, Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa reiterated that the party did not recognise the individuals as its members, and challenged their decision to associate their political history with the party.
He said, “I am sorry to say that Labour Party does not have a record of these people. They are not our membethe rs. Anybody can cook up stories to join whatever party that comes to his mind.
“And I keep wondering why LP is the party that readily comes to their minds whenever they want to do this. If they claim to have worked for Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council in 2023, we all know there were peothe ple who worked for that team including the Obidient Movement.
“Even at that, the Obidients had persist,ently maintained that their members are nthen of the Labour Party. For us, these names cannot be validated. We don’t know them.”
The Obidient Movement also questioned the credentials of the individuals and their claims of having held positions within Obi’s 2023 campaign.
In a telephone interview with The PUNCH, the Director of Media and Communications of the movement, Onyeka Dike, said the group did not recognise the individuals, challenging them to provide evidence of their claimed roles.
“We do not even know these individuals, yet their supposed political importance is being advertised on the strength of their claimed association with Peter Obi. The real question is simple: What positions did they actually hold, who appointed them, and what evidence supports these claims?
“There is a growing perception that the quickest way to attract attention from Tinubu’s camp is to invoke Peter Obi’s name, parade imaginary political titles, announce a celebrated defection and hope to negotiate one’s way into APC patronage.
“If these individuals are truly the political heavyweights being advertised, let them demonstrate their electoral influence without borrowing Peter Obi’s identity.
“The 2027 election will not be decided by noisy defections, recycled political actors or carefully choreographed media spectacles. It will be decided by Nigerians at the ballot box. Those celebrating these defections should prepare to defend their record before the electorate,” Dike stated.