The 2023 vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Datti Baba-Ahmed, says the opposition coalition floated on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is deceiving Nigerians that it can rescue the country from the cesspool of underdevelopment.

“They are deceiving us,” Baba-Ahmed said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Friday.

Baba-Ahmed was the running mate to Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election, won by ex-Lagos governor Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The former LP vice-presidential candidate expressed willingness to be Obi’s running mate in the 2027 presidential election.

Already, Obi, who has expressed his interest in running for president in the 2027 election, has identified with members of the ADC coalition like David Mark, Atiku Abubakar, Nasir el-Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi and Rauf Aregbesola.

However, Baba-Ahmed said he desired that the former Anambra governor would remain in the Labour Party and be the party’s flag bearer in the next poll.

He said, “I’m in the Labour Party. I’m a Peter Obi man. I still want Peter Obi to come back to the Labour Party and contest the 2027 election.”

Asked whether he would be running mate to a presidential candidate in 2027, Baba-Ahmed said, “If Nigeria is still around and there is an electoral system to follow. My love for Nigeria is undying, and I would appropriately associate the group and individuals that are like-minded to restore Nigeria.”

Baba-Ahmed said there are two individuals he would deputise. “The first one has not said anything. The second one is Peter Obi. I’m always with Peter Obi until he decides not to,” he said.