Peter Obi lacks political weight to function as Campaign DG not to talk of emerging Presidential or VP candidate

Peter Obi lacks political weight to function as Campaign DG not to talk of emerging Presidential or VP candidate

Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has dismissed speculation that Peter Obi could emerge as either the presidential or vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Bwala made the remarks during an interview on The Clarity Zone Podcast, where he argued that the former Anambra State governor lacks the political weight to even function as a director-general of any coalition movement. According to him, Obi’s next political move would likely be outside both the ADC and the Labour Party.

The presidential aide contended that Obi’s political base weakened significantly after the 2023 general election, claiming that the former Labour Party flagbearer had lost grip on the structures and allies he once commanded, including his presence in the National Assembly.

“After the election, he lost everybody he was leading. He had members in the house of representatives. How many are there in the national assembly?” Bwala asked.

He further questioned Obi’s relevance among sitting governors and candidates he previously supported across the country.

“The only governor he had… is the governor with him or with us? In fact, I have not seen one that identifies with him at the moment. All the elections he has gone across Nigeria supporting candidates… all of them failed.

“The army of Trojans that he has on social media, they attack people. They say you are two-faced, that you change party. That’s what they do every day.

“But when you say their master and hero has been changing party like a player in the Premier League changes clubs every season, they don’t like it.”

Bwala also accused Obi of inconsistency and double standards on party loyalty, listing his past movements across political platforms.

“He started with PDP, then went to APGA. In APGA, he came back to PDP. From PDP, he went to Labour,” he said.

“Right now, when you hear people talk about being between the devil and the deep blue sea, he is between ADC and Labour.

“He will not be the presidential candidate, he will not be the vice-presidential candidate. Peter Obi is going to run on a platform other than Labour and other than ADC.”

The presidential aide further predicted that Obi would perform poorly in any future election, insisting he would fail to secure even a quarter of the votes he garnered in 2023.

Obi, who contested the last presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, scored 6,101,533 votes, finishing behind candidates of the APC and PDP.

Bwala concluded by asserting that Obi’s rise in national politics was driven by temporary momentum rather than a solid grassroots network, describing him as “an actor” whose political influence, he said, was built on “make-believe” rather than reality.