Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate Baba Datti-Ahmed has cast doubt on the prospects of a united northern backing for the emerging political alliance between Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 presidential race.

In a recent interview, Datti-Ahmed, who ran alongside Obi in the 2023 presidential election, said he does not believe the North will coalesce around the duo, now key figures in the newly formed Nigeria Democratic Congress.

“It is very unlikely that the North will rally around OK. That is my personal opinion,” he said, referring to Obi and Kwankwaso.

Datti-Ahmed disclosed that he was one of the earliest advocates of a broad opposition coalition and had personally urged Obi to reach out to Kwankwaso and other influential figures as part of a long-term strategy for 2027.

“I feel guilty because I was the one who told Peter Obi in January 2024, after asking him a few things, that from this point there is Kwankwaso, there is el-Rufai, there is another person I would like to suggest you approach,” he explained.

He said the current alignment between Obi and Kwankwaso was in part the product of that advice, but he remains unconvinced about its durability and electoral value.

“If in 2024 you cannot plan 2027, I’m sorry, I cannot continue to be with you. So they are going together now with Kwankwaso, it’s my idea. Will it work? I think it’s a big question. We’ll wait and see.”

Datti-Ahmed argued that the internal configuration of any Obi–Kwankwaso ticket could prove problematic, especially around questions of hierarchy, ambition and succession.

“You have a vice-president that is older than you, first of all in age, in education, in political profile, in so many other things. This is somebody with a burning ambition and temperament. Who is going to be the president, actually?” he asked, suggesting that expectations over a future power rotation, such as an assumed claim to 2031, could destabilise the project.

He also criticised Obi’s decision to leave the Labour Party amid internal disputes, insisting the former candidate should have remained to resolve the crisis.

“Someone who got Labour Party ticket so easily should have stayed to fix the problems of Labour Party however difficult they were. I stood and I earned the wrath of many because I said ‘come and reconcile’ in Labour Party.

“Only for me to hear and see in the news my former leader, my boss, saying wherever there is a quarrel, he will walk away. So, there is a quarrel in Nigeria, you will walk away? These are things that don’t add up,” he said.