Datti Baba-Ahmed picks PRP membership card

The 2023 vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has formally defected to the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), obtaining his membership card in Zaria on Wednesday.

Baba-Ahmed, accompanied by political associates, signed the party’s membership register at the PRP ward secretariat in Tudun Wada, Zaria.

Speaking shortly after the exercise, he accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of prioritising efforts to weaken opposition parties rather than addressing pressing national challenges such as insecurity and economic hardship.

According to him, several opposition platforms, including the Labour Party, have been adversely affected.

“They succeeded in crippling opposition parties, including my former party, the Labour Party,” he said.

He, however, noted that the PRP had remained largely intact, attributing this to what he described as the party not being a primary target of political interference.

“If you are talking about a credible opposition capable of challenging and replacing the APC, the PRP is the answer,” he added.

Baba-Ahmed also described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as being in decline, while expressing uncertainty over the future of other parties such as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

He further alleged that there were deliberate efforts to destabilise the Labour Party, a development he said influenced his decision to leave.

“I cannot be part of that,” he said.

The former LP chieftain expressed confidence in the PRP leadership, describing it as credible and incorruptible, and predicted that more Nigerians would join the party in the coming months.

He added that his defection had already begun to generate interest across the country.