Atiku, Peter Obi in talks to join SDP – Ex Presidential candidate

Adewole Adebayo, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has disclosed that high-profile politicians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi, are in talks to join the SDP ahead of the 2027 general election

Speaking in an interview with Channels TV, Adebayo revealed that representatives of Atiku and Obi are currently engaging with the party on possible alignments.

“People are joining my party, and we are welcoming them. You can see how active I am in welcoming them,” he said. “The only little issue we have with some of them is to change the culture, especially for those who haven’t been in environments where rules are taken seriously.”

He added, “Some of them are doing some Boy Scouts, black market operations, we are dealing with that. But we welcome them into the party. All these people you have mentioned—El-Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, and even former Governor Peter Obi—are coming. A lot of people are coming, and we will welcome them.”

When asked to confirm if Obi is indeed joining the SDP, Adebayo responded, “Supposedly. Until somebody joins, we don’t know. But people have told me, and the Financial Secretary of the SDP has also informed me, that they are talking. So we will welcome everybody.”

Adebayo stressed the need for any new entrants to adhere to the party’s internal processes.

“If we come in and don’t become a tower of Babel—if we follow the rules and allow one person to emerge transparently and clearly, without cheating or criminality, the way we did our convention in 2022—people applauded us. No court case, no crisis, no allegations,” he said. “If they can stick to our culture and do things the SDP way, and produce a good alternative to Nigerians, we will defeat the APC and retire President Tinubu to Lagos or wherever he chooses in Nigeria.”

Obi, who garnered about six million votes in the last presidential election, came third behind Atiku and eventual winner Bola Tinubu of the APC. Despite ongoing speculation, Obi has maintained that he remains committed to the Labour Party, which was the platform for his 2023 bid.

Follow Us on Facebook – @LadunLiadi; Instagram – @LadunLiadi; Twitter – @LadunLiadi; Youtube – @LadunLiadiTV for updates