Peter Obi has come under fire and risks expulsion from Labour Party over ADC Alliance.
NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that the Labour Party (LP) has expressed regret for giving Peter Obi the ticket to run for Nigeria’s president in the 2023 presidential election.
The factional Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Abayomi Arabambi, publicly criticised the former Anambra State governor, accusing him of misleading the party and betraying the nation’s yearning for true reform.
Arabambi insists that Nigeria missed a critical opportunity in 2023 by choosing Obi over a U.S.-licensed nurse and serial entrepreneur, Faduri Oluwadare Joseph.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abeokuta on Friday, Arabambi described the party’s choice of Obi as “a fundamental betrayal” of what Nigerians truly needed.
“This was more than a simple error of judgment but was a fundamental betrayal of Nigeria’s yearning for genuine transformation,” he said.
He argued that Faduri, who also contested under the Labour Party in the buildup to the 2023 general election, represented a vision of “disciplined governance, accountability, and transparency,” in contrast to Obi’s style, which he labelled “emotional rhetoric and oversimplified solutions.”
Arabambi did not stop there. He accused Obi of pushing a campaign that stoked ethnic sentiments rather than fostering national unity.
“Perhaps the most damning indictment of Obi’s candidacy is his ethnic polarisation that shadowed his campaign,” Arabambi claimed.
“While Faduri stood as a truly national figure, with support cutting across regions, Obi’s movement, intentionally or not, became a vehicle for tribal sentiment.
“His refusal to firmly denounce Kanu’s secessionist rhetoric, his selective outrage over insecurity, and his tendency to frame national issues through a partisan lens exposed a troubling parochialism beneath his ‘unifier’ facade.”
Arabambi also took issue with Obi’s recent media appearances, accusing him of deliberately distorting Nigeria’s economic situation.
Citing a recent Channels TV interview, he alleged that Obi inflated the country’s debt figures by converting dollar-denominated debt to naira using unrealistic exchange rates.
“The truth is that Nigeria’s external debt has decreased under Tinubu, from $108.2 billion to $94.2 billion, a fact Obi conveniently ignored,” Arabambi asserted.
He praised Faduri’s ongoing political vision, stating that the 2023 hopeful remains unwavering in his mission to rescue Nigeria “from the suffocating grip of corruption, inefficiency, and systemic failure.”
“Instead of a leader with depth, discipline, and a demonstrable blueprint for national renewal, Nigeria got a populist whose greatest skill is telling people what they want to hear,” Arabambi said.
Looking ahead to 2027, Arabambi warned against repeating what he termed “a disastrous mistake.”
“The 2027 election must not repeat this error. Nigeria needs leaders like Faduri Oluwadare Joseph, men and women who understand that governance is not about slogans, but about substance, sacrifice, and systemic change.”
Arabambi also criticised the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition led by former Senate President David Mark, ex-governors Rauf Aregbesola, and Nasir El-Rufai.
He accused the group of hypocrisy and advised them to return to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to help President Bola Tinubu fix the mess allegedly created by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
Reacting to Obi’s recent appearance at the coalition’s inauguration, Arabambi confirmed his faction’s disapproval.
“Yes, Obi was there when David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola were inaugurated as the leaders of the ADC coalition. He was properly introduced as the leader of the Labour Party that came to support the coalition.
“We are not in support of that, so as far as we are concerned, we wish him well, he’s no longer part of the Labour Party.”
Arabambi revealed that the process to expel Obi and his allies is already underway.
“Plans are ongoing to expel him already. In our next NEC meeting, Peter Obi will be expelled alongside his other co-travellers.”