MORNING SPRING: OBI’S NDC MOMENTUM VS JONATHAN’S PDP COMEBACK: WHO HOLDS THE ACE?

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:01][music] >> All right. Right now, we shift our focus to the 2027 political space and what is happening, the dynamics, and everything we are witnessing at this time, which will appear that it has taken a dramatic twist, you know. Mr. Peter Obi, you were the candidate, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last election. And of course, he has some who say he has been a journeyman trying, you know, with whatever ambition that he has, he's trying to find a platform to express and to do those things that that he has in mind. But first of all, he needs a party. And of course, he has left the Labour Party, went to There was a time he was seen hobnobbing with the SDP, and now they went to the ADC, and from the ADC, now to the NDC. And he has been seen, you know, seen and acting his intention to be the candidate of the party. And so, he has gone through whatever it takes to be the sole aspirant of that party, sole presidential aspirant of the Niger Democratic Congress with a one-term pledge aimed at building a northern alliance. And this promise of seven out only one time if he's voted for, he has made that promise since last year. And that is what he's saying, although people say those politicians are two-perio. And so, [snorts] the question Another major development, rather, is that is shaking the opposition camp is the rumor that former President Goodluck Jonathan might be throwing his hat into the ring as well. And what we are hearing from the PDP is maybe the man is home and dry. Talking about the emergence of Goodluck Jonathan in this particular race. So, is Jonathan's return a masterstroke?

[00:02:02]A design to split Obi's vote, really?

[00:02:05]And some will say, is Goodluck Jonathan really going all the way? And there are some that will ask the question, maybe he's being used, you know, by some powers that be to just cause a problem and split the vote of the opposition. Or why not? Why can't the man, by the way, the case about his eligibility is still in court. Why can't the man, you know, seek re-election? In as much In fact, he's the most experienced as far as all the aspirants right now are concerned.

[00:02:31]So, we look into that. And what will this mean for the votes that might be garnered in the southeast and the southwest, especially in the south-southern part of Nigeria? We speak to somebody who will help us with this particular conversation today. He's the governance He is a governance and strategy consultant and spokesperson for the Obedient Movement, uh Mr. Dapo Oladimeji. He joins us virtually. Mr. Oladimeji, thank you for joining us.

[00:03:02]Morning.

[00:03:04]Can you hear me? Good morning.

[00:03:06]Yes, I can hear you.

[00:03:07]>> Okay. Good morning.

[00:03:08]>> Thank you so much. So, where are we right now, you know, Mr. Peter Obi as he is as he might wouldn't know maybe by now or maybe you could confirm that for us if he would be the only candidate of the N DC now that the die is cast.

[00:03:30]Yes, Peter Obi is definitely got the ticket sorted. Uh it's, you know, he is the most bankable candidate for the role. And so, that's not really an issue right now. I think that's that's a done deal. We look forward to him being on the ballot come 2027.

[00:03:47]Interesting. [clears throat] Okay, you You once Senator Dickson came up with the idea of the NDC and you know, at the time he was the only big wig there. Many persons were wondering to what end. And so, one would say was the idea of Obi and his obedience and the other guys joining the party part of the plan ab initio or is just a development that came up? And for so many persons, especially your obedient that you speak for, obedient are known to be fierce loyalists of Peter Obi. Some have said if it's not Peter Obi, there is nobody else. And one would say now that you have found a nest in the NDC, the concerns of the obedience that is only Obi or nobody else, do you think it will still be accommodated? Like you guys are the one dictating the affairs of what Peter Obi will do now that there are other interests, there are other leaders, there are other big wigs that you have to work with, if you understand my question.

[00:04:51]To an extent, I do understand your question.

[00:04:53]The reason why people are we are so hardcore about our support for Peter Obi is quite simply because he's the only candidate that we see can save Nigeria. He's the only candidate that can break away break us away from the normal mode of operations.

[00:05:11]You know, he's the only one that can deliver to the people, that cares for the people, and is about the only candidate that we know of that is not corrupt. Right? That has no history of embezzlement and instead has a legacy of delivering for his people. So, quite simply, the love for Obi is the love for Nigeria, the love for a new Nigeria where people can live and be treated like human beings, where people don't have to think about whether they're going to eat in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. I think the suffering that Nigerians have been through under 12 years of APC, 13 years of APC has been horrendous.

[00:05:52]It has been a very degrading experience for most Nigerians. It seems [music] like just when we thought it was bad enough under Buhari, a new person under APC, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has stepped in to show us that things can get worse. And for most Nigerians, they don't want to try again and go back and see that it can in fact get worse.

[00:06:15]It's just quite simply because APC is full of people who are mismanaging the economy and who are too preoccupied with looking after themselves than they are with looking after the common man like you and me.

[00:06:26]Well, oh, I mean, you talked about this is a person that can save the only one that can save Nigeria. When you talk about this, what do you mean? Because you're also mentioning Nigeria and I've seen severally that the media say new Nigeria is possible. So, when you talk about saving Nigeria, from what and from whom exactly?

[00:06:45]Okay, so what we're talking about when we say that is that we want to save Nigeria from a government that has borrowed more in the last four in the last two to three years than the prior government did in eight years.

[00:06:57]What we say when we say we want to save Nigeria is that we want to save Nigeria from a government that has taken the cost of fuel to almost 1,500 naira per liters.

[00:07:07]Right? What we want What we are saying when we say a new Nigeria is a Nigeria where a teacher is not beheaded on TV for the entertainment of some evil people. What we say when we ask for a new Nigeria is a Nigeria where worshipers can go to church, go to mosque, come back and be okay. Right?

[00:07:26]So, the demands of Nigerians, we're not asking to turn this place to London.

[00:07:31]We're asking to make this place habitable.

[00:07:34]To take Nigeria from the living hell that most people are experiencing right now to something that can actually deliver for people. So, Nigerians are not asking for too much. The truth is, we all have a shared experience. Whether you are APC, PDP, we are all living in this country.

[00:07:51]We all know what is going on. Even you guys as reporters, you know what is going on. You know what happens when you go to the market. You know what it means when you now pay your electricity bill bill down when you did for for you know, 12 years ago, right? So, we are all living this shared experience and a bunch of us have woken up to the reality that we can no longer believe the lies of APC. They've been lying to us consistently and never in any of the things they've done have they actually improved the lives of the common man.

[00:08:23]Forgets what statistics they are talking about. I'm talking about the quality of life. Because ultimately, that's is what matters. You can come here and throw percentage and say you done this, you did that. Nobody cares.

[00:08:36]What people care about is their ability to eat, their ability to, you know, pay for transportation to go to work.

[00:08:43]Do you know how embarrassing it is that a person can save for an entire month and cannot afford a bag of rice?

[00:08:51]That if a person wants to buy tokumbo Camry from 2010, it will take them almost 24 years if they are saving half of their minimum wage salary to buy a car.

[00:09:04]That is the Nigeria that they have stoned us into, right? So, they are just tired.

[00:09:10]All right, Mr. Datti Baba Ahmed, since your principal, Peter Obi, has been running on the promise of a one-term, you know, and that's what he's running on. Many analysts say that that's a very strategic step to attract northern political alliances, northern political support, and all of that. I'd like to ask you, as a spokesperson of the Obedient movement, how does this, you know, augur, you know, from the movement, coming from within the movement? Is this possible? Is this something that Is it workable by your obedience?

[00:09:43]Most definitely. Most definitely. You see, if Nigeria is a country that is building itself into one nation. The truth is, let's face the reality.

[00:09:52]We are deeply divided people.

[00:09:54]We would like to say we are one nation, but more needs to be done to unify this country. And in the spirit of equity and fairness, it's very important that power rotates between the north and the south.

[00:10:05]And that's an old-time tradition that has helped keep this country together.

[00:10:09]And let us keep it that way. And what Peter Obi is simply saying is that I'm not coming here to break that tradition.

[00:10:15]I want to respect that tradition. And for the first time, we're even giving somebody from from his region an opportunity to lead this country, which in recent history has not happened.

[00:10:25]Right? So, in the spirit of fairness and equity, it's just a simple admittance that listen, give me one term.

[00:10:31]And in reality, if APC can almost take Nigeria to the breaking point and takes 63% of Nigerians into poverty within half a term. They've not finished their term yet. Within two two thirds of their term or or whatever it is, right? I believe and I know that Peter Obi in the next 4 years will deliver Nigeria to heights that we can never imagine. All right. If we're to borrow from your leave and from the things that you've been saying, talked about how badly Nigeria has been taken backwards.

[00:11:06]>> [music] >> And you know, it's it's a public saying that it's easier to destroy things than it is to build. 4 years, is that sufficient for a Peter Obi to at least turn the trajectory of things, even not if not there, but to put it on the right track in 4 years? With the way Nigeria has gone, insecurity is a major issue.

[00:11:26]Power is another major issue. So, 4 years, is it sufficient for your principal to turn the things that turn things around.

[00:11:34]Absolutely.

[00:11:36]4 years is more than enough.

[00:11:38]People underestimate how wealthy this country is simply because the people that have the power are stealing the wealth of this country. If the wealth of this country goes directly to the people, this country will be transformed in absolutely no time.

[00:11:52]Instead, what did what these current politicians are doing to us is that they are dividing us.

[00:11:57]They are lying to us. They are telling us that oh, it's about this. It's about that. As a Yoruba man, I must support Bola Ahmed Bola Ahmed.

[00:12:08]No, absolutely not.

[00:12:10]Absolutely not. Not when he is not delivering for the people.

[00:12:15]Awolowo, during his time, sided with Okoli over Obafemi Awolowo. That's a very important part of history that we we as Yoruba people forget.

[00:12:26]Our forefathers recognized that there comes a time that we must put country before tribe.

[00:12:33]That we must recognize that just because somebody is from our region and the person is beating you does not mean you lie down and you accept the beating.

[00:12:44]Enough is enough. Everybody, regardless of where they are from, is going through the hardships of this country. And see, people are just saying, "You know what?

[00:12:52]We've had enough." I mean, look at the farce.

[00:12:54]Look at the the nonsense that is happening with APC and its primaries right now. You can see they are attempting They are just rigging themselves. Violence, that is their approach to governance. That is how they want to run this country.

[00:13:08]That's how they want to abuse and manipulate the people of this country.

[00:13:12]So, it's good that we have an opportunity to send them back home to do some thinking and soul-searching. Mr. Adebayo, um Yes. there are some that will say beyond the social media uh buzz and the youth enthusiasm and all of those things that you need a real concrete political structure especially across the divide. All right, and some even say on social media, yes, give it to you guys. You obedient, you are quite fierce and quite loyal to your cause.

[00:13:43]But some said >> [snorts] >> maybe there might be lessons that you have learned from the last election because I know individuals that are not APC, they are not obedient and say the obedient in a kind of way >> [clears throat] >> maybe through whatever you believe don't want to listen to any other person. You come at people, you abuse them, you call them out, you drag them, and you know, you need structure, [music] you need allegiance, you need alliance with people without any conviction that you just need to work with so that your principle will emerge so that this good night, I mean, better Nigeria that you guys want can come into fruition beyond the social media thing, beyond youth movement and enthusiasm. Are you building that real political structure that will be on ground, that can listen to other people's ideas and not just is only obedient and obedient only, which is really upsetting so many persons.

[00:14:43]Okay, so there's two things that you said there. I'll take them one by one, all right? One thing is this idea that, you know, often touted in the media that the obedient are insulting people. In fact, a very cordial interview so far and I'm an obedient, right? So, it's it's false. What is abuse is the fact that we have spokespeople for the president going around insulting people, right? What is abuse is that we have a regime in power right now that is abusing the Nigerian people by causing them to starve and go hungry. That is a greater violation than one or two people who go around insulting people on Twitter. That's irrelevant.

[00:15:22]Look at the man that is leading the party.

[00:15:25]His Excellency Peter Obi has been nothing but cordial, respectful.

[00:15:30]And that is what the Obedience Movement is about. Whereas, let's look at what APC has been about. Attacking people and pulling unit violence up and down, cheating each other for their primaries.

[00:15:41]Please, let us not compare. If we're talking about moral standing, the APC is vapid, hollow, and void of any kind of morality. So, it has it it would be wrong for us to brandish the Obedience as anything like oh, no, no, no, no. We are having a conversation. I am an Obedient, and there are many other Obedients like myself.

[00:16:03]Caring, kind business people who simply love this country. Hardworking citizens who simply want to be able to afford a good life. And that is what the Obedience Movement is about.

[00:16:15]That is taking care of that, right? So, there is no uh you shall we say Obedience uh the rudeness. We're just simply outspoken people care about the country.

[00:16:26]Now, the second thing that you spoke about is structure. Now, part of two people say structure, structure. Let's unpack what do we mean by structure?

[00:16:34]>> [music] >> Now, how does our democracy work? Right?

[00:16:37]Our democracy works by people leaving their house to vote for the candidate that they believe in. That's simply it, right? So, what we are used to as Nigerians is structure. Structure of coercion, structure of buying votes, structure of intimidation.

[00:16:53]And so, when we see the Obedience Movement does not have that kind of structure, people think we mean we don't have the structure. That's not true. We have learned lessons from the last election. We're going to have our agents at the polling unit at every polling unit. We're going to make sure we escort the ballot paper from polling unit to ward collation, from ward collation to local government, from local government to the state level. We will do that. We will protect our votes. We have learned a great deal and the Obedient Movement has been open to so many ideas. And that's why Peter Obi himself spent quite a number of time traveling around the world learning how democracies around the world are doing it, how other people are developing their country. Let us not forget that this thing of bringing a country from poverty and suffering to the 21st century is not is not a novel idea.

[00:17:43]And Peter Obi has spent time traveling the world to learn from other countries, right? So we're open to learning from people. So let us never never misinterpret the movement with the actions of a few extreme people. Please let us not forget that the APCs where MC Oluomo went on TV and was and was touting all sorts of hateful and spiteful comments about people voting in Lagos. That same MC Oluomo is still representing the APC today.

[00:18:08]You You cannot compare those things. You cannot compare the actions of people in power.

[00:18:14]>> understand. I I get. Point made, actually. But, you know, many persons might be open up to the idea to know that there is political structure. But talking about these dynamics on ground, the introduction of a Goodluck Jonathan into this race, in fact, we hear that the PDP, especially the turning to rocky side, has cleared him of screening. No screening. Just go ahead and run.

[00:18:36]Don't you find that a pro- a problem, really? Talking about if actually the man goes the full throttle to to really run, sharing of votes, scattering of the opposition, while the ruling party might be coasting home. Really? [music] Goodluck Jonathan throwing his hat into the ring. What is that doing to the ambition or what can that do to the ambition of your principal? Or will your principal be meeting him to talk about things?

[00:19:04]No. It's It's a It's a democracy and I'm glad to see that more and more people are willing to participate in it.

[00:19:11]We don't view as a as a problem in any way, right? Let's not forget that the Nigerian people as more as much as we respect, you know, uh Goodluck Jonathan, we did reject Goodluck Jonathan. Now, we regretted rejecting him only because the person who came after him was worse.

[00:19:33]But, we had grounds to reject him that time. So, I don't see it as a particular concern.

[00:19:39]He's uh he's he's an elder statesman now.

[00:19:43]And um you know, he's more than welcome to participate in our democracy. That's the nature of democracy, right? But, it is not going to affect the the the drive [music] to save this Nigeria because let let us focus on what is on is really important, right? We have almost uh 70 or 80 million registered voters in this country.

[00:20:03]In the last election, it was less than 20% of them who showed up. There's more than enough votes to go around. There's more than enough votes to to select, you know, a winner even though there are many people running in the election. So, it's not a particular concern for us.

[00:20:20]It's it should be more of a concern for the APC, if I'm being honest.

[00:20:25]Are you sure about that? I mean, those candidates are both from the south. One is from the south-south and the other, you know, uh from the southeast. And Do you know from the >> are saying yourself that um Nigeria is a country that is greatly divided along lines. And there's ethnic lines and religious lines are a big deal in Nigeria at this time. And so, And we're talking about that there is a lot of votes to go around. That's talking about power blocks, yeah. We're talking about the incumbent. The APC is also from the south from the southwest. So, we're having southwest, south-south, southeast on the ballot on different political parties. These uh I mean, the incumbent, the former president, a one-time, you know, candidate for the presidency as well. And so, all of this, you know, see it as some sort of strategy being clever by half to have him back into the race, to foreign to the race at this time. A personal also of the South extraction, a Christian as well.

[00:21:28]Well, yes. So, now, I definitely see certain hands being involved in all these strategies right. But, the reason why I say I'm not saying it is insignificant, but I'm saying is that it is not a threat. Because the presupposition here is that people are voting simply across tribal lines and across, you know, uh you know, ethnic lines, right? If that was the case, then, you know, Tinubu should not have lost his home state of Lagos in the last election, right? That was simply what it is.

[00:21:59]Right. So, Nigerians have woken up to the reality that it's not just about ethnicity, it's not just about tribes.

[00:22:06]So, that that should minimize the impact of these things, right? But, at the same time, we also have Shehu Shagari coming in who's going to eat into, uh you know, potentially maybe even the base of, you know, Tinubu himself in the Southwest, right? So, it's definitely an interesting election we have, you know, potentially Atiku coming up and and taking votes in the north. So, it is an election unlike any other, right? And as much as we will speculate as to how the dynamics are going to play out, this election will ultimately be determined by one thing.

[00:22:39]By that 70-80% of Nigerians who have a PVC, who sat at home in the last election. So, the prayer is that those people wake up to their responsibility and they step up.

[00:22:51]Right. So, all these all these all these games were played in the last election. And we saw how that worked out. If not because of some last-minute changes to the regulation, we know that you know his Excellency Peter Obi would have won that election.

[00:23:07]So that's not to say that you know other people joining the election are insignificant. That's not what I'm saying, but I I firmly believe that it will not change the trajectory of this election because the Nigerian people are behind Peter Obi and they will come out in mass simply because they have suffered enough. All right. Yeah.

[00:23:24]I'd like to ask you, is there a possibility of Jonathan Obi alliance as part of a broader coalition, you know, strategy here? I mean, that could also be another because there are some people who are of that sort.

[00:23:40]100% 100% that that is that is the ideal reality. One of the things I've always said is even after we left the the you know the ADC is that our colleagues at the ADC are more than welcome to come and join the NDC to collapse their structures and ensure that you know that Peter Obi is elected, right? So there is very much the opportunity and I know for certain that his Excellency Peter Obi will be very open to negotiating and working with you know people across parties to deliver this country.

[00:24:14]So the dream is that the coalition unite itself behind [music] Peter Obi so that we can save this country from the continued destruction of APC and I I I pray like any well-meaning Nigerian that that comes to pass. But regardless of what happens Are there clear cut you know talks or patterns or pathways [music] for this to happen? I mean, are you in talks with some of these other you know opposition figures to you know have a broader coalition?

[00:24:47]I mean, it would be very careless of me to discuss the strategies and internal internal movements of of the party or his Excellency Peter Obi. That is not something I would do, but I would say that it will be in the benefit of Nigerians for all these other candidates to unite behind Peter Obi as the torchbearer for a new Nigeria. All right.

[00:25:09]>> [music] >> Mr. Adamu, before we allow you to go, some will say that why um as the spokesperson for the Obedient you know, loyalists and supporters of Mr. Peter Obi um that you are saying the opposition should unite, you know, behind the ambition of Peter Obi. Some would say why not unite >> [music] >> uh you know, I for the ambition of any other person [music] because the the concern here is that the opposition big wigs are more interested in personal ambitions.

[00:25:44]>> [music] >> There was a meeting that was held in Ibadan like a month ago in which Mr. Peter Obi was there, some other persons were there, >> [music] >> and the thing was that there should be a you know, a one candidates kind of movement. And it was agreed at that place only for the Labour Party leadership to come out and under the NADECO we are not part of it. PRP pulled out, other persons pulled out.

[00:26:09]Even in the ADC, Atiku Abubakar has collected forms, submitted. Amaechi we understand stormed out of a meeting yesterday. Your principal Peter Obi is in the NDC. Goodluck Jonathan we learned is talking with the PDP. The oppositions are scattered in different place. And one would say they the ruling party are just there looking at the rest of you that your personal ambitions and nobody is ready to really sacrifice so that you can achieve whatever is your aim. Is this not like a disaster waiting to happen when oppositions are pulled [music] in different directions? And the ruling party, as far as the presidency is concerned, it's only one.

[00:26:53]Okay, thank you very much. That's a very sound question. Now, you see, even in the APC when it was being formed, the reason why despite [music] the inner internal, you know, issues that they had, they united behind Buhari was Buhari was the most bankable candidate for the time.

[00:27:12]And all the other people had to wake up to that reality, right? It took some time for them to do that.

[00:27:17]And we're having the same kind of, you know, dynamic here. It's very clear that Peter Obi is the most bankable candidate, [music] right? And it's okay for people to, you know, move around a little bit, shall we say, test their popularity, but eventually the wise thing to do would be for them to unite, right? But regardless of what happens, the people still stand firmly with Peter Obi because we can see that he is the only person that has the integrity to deliver Nigeria. So, there there is no disaster, right? There there is no thing to worry about at all. What we are simply doing is we've identified the candidate that can deliver for Nigerians, and people will go out there and vote for him, right? But the elections is still next year.

[00:28:06]So, don't be surprised if a lot changes.

[00:28:09]But let us never lose focus on what this election is about. This election isn't about the egos or the jostling of men.

[00:28:15]This election is about the people of Nigeria, the cleaner who, you know, who's working for 60,000 men a month, the civil servant who has to decide which one of his children is going to go to school. Mhm.

[00:28:30]>> [music] >> That's what this election is about. It's about people being able to eat three times a day. Yeah. And we can see that APC is not going to deliver to us what we need. And so, knowing that, the people will unite and, you know, elect the right person, which is Peter Obi.

[00:28:45]Thank you so much. Governance and strategy consultants and of course the spokesperson for the obedient movement that what Adam Awa. [music] Thank you for your time and your take as they say time shall tell. We wish you all the best.

[00:29:01]Thank you very much, sir. Thank you so much. Of course this will be a convenient place for us to leave it today. It's been you know [music] quite a package for this morning and we need to tell but then we should not forget children, teachers are still in the den of abductors in your state. We hope something good will be heard from that end before the end of today. They can't afford to be there. It was quite chilly over the night okay and I can't imagine one year old, two year olds, three year olds, 10 year olds in the bush without nothing. Even you with your children at home, you say how to pull the the duvet and everything on them. Now see other people I can't imagine that. Whatever needs to be done needs to be done. Family please my name.

[00:29:48]I wish you all the best until we meet again tomorrow. Bye-bye.