THE 2023 vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has announced his decision to quit the party and defect to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)
Baba-Ahmed made the disclosure on Tuesday, April 28, while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
He explained that the party had lost the principles that attracted him to it ahead of the 2023 general elections.
According to him, the Labour Party no longer reflects the values it once stood for, especially following internal crisis and what he described as deliberate efforts by certain individuals to frustrate him politically.
“I am leaving the Labour Party tomorrow. There is more to it. When there was real peace in the Labour Party was when they posted back. They redeployed someone with a specific purpose and because of the antecedent of the individual to make life difficult, particularly for me. What the Labour Party stood for then is no longer what it is today,” he said.
He stated that his exit from the party would become effective at midnight, adding that his new political destination would be the Peoples Redemption Party.
“I am leaving the Labour Party midnight and I am joining PRP. PRP is the new destination. PRP is the one with a history. It’s about 75 years old,” he stated.
Baba-Ahmed’s defection comes months after he publicly distanced himself from the coalition of opposition politicians seeking to adopt the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a common platform ahead of the 2027 polls.
The coalition, which has attracted several opposition figures, including former vice president Atiku Abukakar, former governors Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rotimi Amaechi, Rauf Aregbesola, Nasir El-Rufai, and former Senate President David Mark, was formed to serve as a strong force to confront President Bola Tinubu and his party – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, Baba-Ahmed had openly rejected suggestions that he would join the movement.
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He had insisted that Nigeria’s political crisis could not be solved by simply repackaging old politicians under a new coalition.
At the time, he argued that many of those driving coalition talks were individuals who had contributed to Nigeria’s current failures and could not be trusted to deliver real change.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today in August 2025, he dismissed the coalition as deceptive, saying, “They are deceiving us,” while insisting he remained in the Labour Party and wanted the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 poll, Peter Obi, to return to the party for the 2027 election.
His refusal to align with the ADC coalition was seen by many as a signal that he was considering an alternative political path outside both the Labour Party and the mainstream opposition alliances.
Baba-Ahmed was Obi’s running mate in the 2023 poll. Their ticket became one of the strongest opposition forces during the polls, attracting significant support from young voters.
Although the party eventually lost the election to Tinubu of the APC, the Obi-Datti ticket reshaped opposition politics and significantly boosted the Labour Party’s position during the 2023 election, as the party won significant seats at the National Assembly.
Since the election, however, like other opposition parties in the country, the Labour Party has been embroiled in prolonged leadership disputes, legal battles, and factional struggles involving its national leadership.
