2027: Peter Obi assures he will run under Labour Party
Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has confirmed he will run again in the 2027 general elections under the same party.
He gave this assurance during a 7-minute, 16-second video message addressed to a group of young supporters, which has been circulating on the party’s WhatsApp platform since Saturday.
Obi addressed concerns about perceived internal conflicts within the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attributing the crises to interference from the current government.
When asked about his platform for the 2027 elections, he stated clearly, “I will still continue to run in the Labour Party. I’m a member of the Labour Party.”
Responding to a youth concerned about his perceived silence on the Labour Party’s internal issues, the former Anambra State governor said, “What is happening in the Labour Party and the PDP is caused by the government. Quote me anywhere.”
He recalled a past incident under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua when a similar situation was resolved after the president intervened. “We had a problem in our party before, in the past. Yar’Adua was the president. I went to him then; he called the INEC Chairman (Prof. Maurice Iwu) and told him, ‘I don’t want any problem in any party.’ We were forced to fix it.”
Obi emphasized that today’s widespread party crises are systemic and deliberate, and one of the issues he intends to address if elected. “Parties will function very well because you can’t have a system working without a strong opposition,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to take ownership of the electoral process, stressing that while party agents play a role, it is ultimately the voters who ensure that votes count.
Addressing the broader political climate, Obi encouraged young Nigerians not to lose hope, noting that efforts to bring about change will be resisted by those benefiting from the status quo.
He also proposed the idea of a retirement age for politicians, stating that by 2027 he would be 65 years old and wouldn’t want to keep contesting into his 70s.
