Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has announced his intention to leave the Labour Party and join the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
Baba-Ahmed made the announcement on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s political programme, Politics Today, citing internal disagreements and a departure from the party’s founding ideals as reasons for his exit.
“I am leaving the Labour Party tomorrow. There is more to it. When there was real peace in the Labour Party, was when they posted back. They redeployed someone with a specific purpose, and because of the antecedent of the individual to make life difficult, particularly for me. What the Labour Party stood for then is no longer what it is today,” he said.
The former vice-presidential candidate said his defection would take effect at midnight, and confirmed the PRP as his next political destination.
“I am leaving the Labour Party [at] midnight, and I am joining PRP. PRP is the new destination. PRP is the one with a history. It’s about 75 years old,” he stated.
The PRP was founded in 1978 by the late Aminu Kano and is regarded as one of Nigeria’s oldest political movements, with a long-standing reputation for progressive ideology.
Baba-Ahmed ran alongside Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi in the 2023 general election, a campaign that galvanised significant youth support and shook the dominance of the country’s two major parties before ultimately falling short at the polls.