Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso were formally received at the Nigeria Democratic Congress national headquarters in Abuja on Sunday after announcing they had switched parties ahead of next year's presidential election. [1]
The two men said they were leaving the African Democratic Congress, where they had been aligned with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. Obi finished third in the 2023 presidential race, Kwankwaso fourth and Abubakar second. [1]
Their arrival at the NDC has raised the prospect of a joint ticket to challenge President Bola Tinubu, who is 74. Obi is 64 and Kwankwaso is 69. [1]
Obi used the occasion to criticise the turmoil he said had driven him out of the Labour Party, saying: "The same Nigerian state and its agents that created unnecessary crises and hostility within the Labour Party that forced me to leave now appear to be finding their way into the ADC," [1]
Both men called for national unity, more opportunities for young people and an end to infighting within the opposition. The presidency played down the defections, describing them as part of the normal fluidity of democratic politics. [1]
The pair had joined the ADC about nine months before the report, but the alliance soon became mired in legal battles over party leadership. [1]
