‘We must end APC before it ends us’ — Datti Baba-Ahmed says Tinubu must be defeated in 2027
Datti Baba-Ahmed, former vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), says President Bola Tinubu must be defeated in 2027 to end what he described as the destructive grip of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Nigeria.
Speaking in a recent interview, Baba-Ahmed said Nigeria urgently needs political change, warning that the APC must be stopped “before it ends us”.
“I sincerely hope President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be defeated in 2027, possibly even before then, to bring an end to the APC era,” he said. “We need to end APC before it ends us.”
Baba-Ahmed maintained that the LP won the 2023 presidential election, alleging that the process was compromised through the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) technology.
“We won the 2023 presidential election. They switched off IREV. The Nigerian constitution has been abused up till this moment,” he said.
He accused the APC-led government under the late President Muhammadu Buhari of presiding over electoral malpractice.
He argued that assurances of a credible election were abandoned after polling day, describing the outcome as a deliberate reversal of earlier commitments.
“Shamelessly, they were all saying the election would be credible. Three days later, on Saturday, they did the exact opposite,” he said.
The LP chieftain stressed that future electoral victories would depend on citizens’ willingness to protect their votes beyond polling units.
“If we have the right Nigerians who will vote from the polling units and defend it all the way — Nigerians who will stand by their laws and constitution — then change is possible,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also drew parallels with the June 12, 1993, presidential election, insisting that its results were never officially released despite its symbolic status in Nigeria’s democratic history.
“Today, we have the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja, and a former June 12 activist is president. Yet, if anyone says the June 12 results were never released, they will shred you to pieces,” he said. “But the truth remains: the results were never released.”
He argued that sustained political mobilisation, rather than legal action alone, has historically shaped political outcomes in Nigeria.
“As much as I dislike the way they use the constitution, you must give it to them, they fight for their interests. They organise rallies and sustain pressure for decades, while others keep saying, ‘let’s go to court’,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also criticised the LP’s post-election strategy, saying he had advised presidential candidate Peter Obi that the courts alone could not resolve what he described as constitutional violations.
“I told Peter Obi that the supreme court cannot give you a governorship and give you the presidency,” he said, citing an alleged breach of section 134(2)(b) of the constitution.
He concluded by saying that anyone seeking to defeat Tinubu in future elections must be prepared to resist what he called electoral malpractice.
“Whoever is going to defeat Tinubu must be ready to show ‘red eyes’,” he said.
“On the day fake results are declared, those declaring them are criminals, and those stopping them are good citizens.”
