Omoyele Sowore, former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), launched a scathing critique of the Labour Party and its 2023 flagbearer, Peter Obi, on Sunday, dismissing them as a fleeting “short rental” arrangement lacking the resolve to disrupt Nigeria’s entrenched political system.
Speaking publicly, Sowore argued that Obi does not embody the traits of a true opposition leader. “I don’t know why anybody refers to Peter Obi as an opposition. He is not opposed to anything the government is doing,” Sowore said. He pointed to Obi’s silence on critical issues like fuel price hikes and his failure to mobilize supporters to contest the 2023 election results, which Obi claimed were rigged. “He hasn’t done anything that an opposition figure typically does,” Sowore added.
Sowore, who has long expressed skepticism about Obi’s political impact, reiterated that the Labour Party’s 2023 campaign was a temporary phenomenon, likening it to an “Airbnb” rental. “When they are done with Peter Obi, they’ll move the rental to someone else,” he said, suggesting Obi’s prominence was fleeting and lacked depth. He attributed Obi’s 2023 electoral traction to religious sentiments sparked by the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Muslim-Muslim ticket, which prompted a Christian counter-response. “Who was the most available Christian candidate? Peter Obi,” Sowore remarked.
The activist further criticized Obi for failing to organize street protests despite claiming six million votes in 2023. “If you can’t put 60,000 in Abuja, how seriously will the government take you?” Sowore asked, accusing Obi and his supporters of shunning real change in favor of merely replacing President Bola Tinubu’s administration with their own.
Sowore also took aim at Labour Party lawmakers, noting their increasing alignment with the ruling APC. “They’re not decamping back to where they came from. They’re decamping to the APC. These guys are not real,” he said, predicting their irrelevance in the 2027 elections.
In response, Yunusa Tanko, National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, defended Obi’s enduring relevance in a phone interview on Sunday. “If someone is not a worthy opposition, why do you keep talking about him?” Tanko asked, asserting that Obi’s every move—whether a statement or a casual act—dominates national discourse. He cited a recent remark by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who referenced Obi during a valedictory session for the late Chief Edwin Clark, as evidence of Obi’s prominence. “That says a lot,” Tanko said.
Tanko urged Obi’s critics to focus on their own campaigns and reaffirmed the Obidient Movement’s commitment to supporting Obi’s efforts to challenge Nigeria’s establishment for the benefit of its people.
As the 2027 elections approach, Sowore’s remarks highlight the deepening divisions among Nigeria’s opposition figures, with debates intensifying over who can effectively confront the country’s political status quo.
