The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Monday, held a meeting with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and a number of Peoples Democratic Party stalwarts in Abuja.
Obi also met separately with a former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, a development that sparked speculation about a potential coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Obi was a member of the PDP until 2022 when he defected to the Labour Party to pursue his presidential ambition.
He came third behind Atiku in the February 23 presidential election, which was won by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.
Pundits argued that Atiku’s 6,984,520 votes and Obi’s 6,101,533 votes would have secured victory against Tinubu, who garnered 8,794,726 votes.
Monday’s meeting was the first time since after the election that Obi and Atiku would be meeting to public knowledge.
Online platforms and social media were awash with viral photographs of Obi’s meeting with the three PDP chieftains on Monday.
In 2019, both Atiku and Obi ran on the PDP joint ticket but were defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.
But due to internal conflicts, Obi, who served as Atiku’s running mate in 2019, left the PDP and contested the 2023 presidential election as the candidate of the Labour Party.
Speaking with journalists Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, confirmed that Obi’s meeting with Atiku lasted approximately 20 minutes.
He stated, “Yes, Peter Obi visited Atiku Abubakar. They met for about 20 minutes behind closed doors, so we wouldn’t know what was said, and they didn’t disclose anything to us.
“Since Atiku Abubakar mentioned coalition discussions and such, I believe that both of them must have been engaged in dialogue. And I did mention that they wouldn’t be discussing it in the media. So, they have indeed been in discussions and it is just a matter of those discussions bearing fruit.
This meeting is just the beginning; there will be further interactions and gatherings with other individuals. Together, they will brainstorm on how to rescue the nation. The party is fully aware of the meeting and is committed to working hard to achieve something significant for our country.”
Meanwhile, the APC has boasted that it was not intimidated nor would it lose sleep following speculations that the Labour Party and the PDP might be planning a merger to wrest power from the ruling party.
The National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, jeered at the thoughts of a merger to defeat his party.
Ibrahim said, “In a democracy, meeting of politicians is not forbidden. Parties, people and politicians can meet to decide what to do politically and democratically as long as their meetings are not designed to derail democracy, there is nothing wrong with that.
“The PDP, Labour Party and others together were the same parties defeated by the APC. The ruling party took them to the cleaners where the president scored the highest votes. They are free to meet. But as they are meeting, so is the APC with a view to strengthening our support base to woo more people, based on the dividend of democracy extended to them by the president and our party.
2027: Atiku, Obi Initiate Merger Talks
