Daniel Bwala, special adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on policy communication, has said Peter Obi will not emerge as either the presidential or vice-presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Gatekeepers News reports that Bwala made the claim during an interview on The Clarity Zone Podcast, where he argued that the former Anambra Governor no longer has the political strength needed to lead or anchor any major coalition. According to him, Obi also lacks the capacity to function as a director-general of a serious political movement.
He maintained that Obi would eventually seek the presidency on another platform outside both the ADC and the Labour Party. Bwala said the political structure Obi built ahead of the 2023 general election has collapsed, including his influence within the national assembly.
Bwala asked, “After the election, he lost everybody he was leading. He had members in the House of Representatives. How many are there in the national assembly?”
He also questioned Obi’s hold on state-level power, saying, “The only governor he had… is the governor with him or with us? In fact, I have not seen one that identifies with him at the moment.”
Bwala claimed that Obi’s involvement in recent elections across the country has not produced results, stating that candidates he openly supported failed at the polls.
He further criticised Obi’s online supporters, accusing them of attacking critics while ignoring what he described as Obi’s history of frequent party switches.
He said, “The army of Trojans that he has on social media, they attack people. They say you are two-faced, that you change party. That’s what they do every day.”
“But when you say their master and hero has been changing party like a player in the Premier League changes clubs every season, they don’t like it.”
The presidential aide also accused Obi of hypocrisy on party loyalty, recalling his political journey across several parties. Bwala said, “He started with PDP, then went to APGA. In APGA, he came back to PDP. From PDP, he went to Labour.”
He added that Obi is now politically undecided, saying, “Right now, when you hear people talk about being between the devil and the deep blue sea, he is between ADC and Labour.”
Bwala insisted that Obi would be shut out of the ADC ticket, declaring, “He will not be the presidential candidate, he will not be the vice-presidential candidate. Peter Obi is going to run on a platform other than Labour and other than ADC.”
He also predicted a sharp decline in Obi’s electoral performance, saying the former Labour Party candidate would not secure up to a quarter of the votes he recorded in the 2023 presidential election. Obi had polled 6,101,533 votes in that election, finishing behind the candidates of APC and PDP.
According to Bwala, Obi’s rise was driven by a temporary political moment rather than strong grassroots structures, describing him as an actor whose popularity was built on “make-believe” rather than lasting political reality.
reports that Bwala made the claim during an interview on The Clarity Zone Podcast, where he argued that the former Anambra Governor no longer has the political strength needed to lead or anchor any major coalition. According to him, Obi also lacks the capacity to function as a director-general of a serious political movement.
He maintained that Obi would eventually seek the presidency on another platform outside both the ADC and the Labour Party. Bwala said the political structure Obi built ahead of the 2023 general election has collapsed, including his influence within the national assembly.
Bwala asked, “After the election, he lost everybody he was leading. He had members in the House of Representatives. How many are there in the national assembly?”
He also questioned Obi’s hold on state-level power, saying, “The only governor he had… is the governor with him or with us? In fact, I have not seen one that identifies with him at the moment.”
Bwala claimed that Obi’s involvement in recent elections across the country has not produced results, stating that candidates he openly supported failed at the polls.
He further criticised Obi’s online supporters, accusing them of attacking critics while ignoring what he described as Obi’s history of frequent party switches.
He said, “The army of Trojans that he has on social media, they attack people. They say you are two-faced, that you change party. That’s what they do every day.”
“But when you say their master and hero has been changing party like a player in the Premier League changes clubs every season, they don’t like it.”
The presidential aide also accused Obi of hypocrisy on party loyalty, recalling his political journey across several parties. Bwala said, “He started with PDP, then went to APGA. In APGA, he came back to PDP. From PDP, he went to Labour.”
He added that Obi is now politically undecided, saying, “Right now, when you hear people talk about being between the devil and the deep blue sea, he is between ADC and Labour.”
Bwala insisted that Obi would be shut out of the ADC ticket, declaring, “He will not be the presidential candidate, he will not be the vice-presidential candidate. Peter Obi is going to run on a platform other than Labour and other than ADC.”
He also predicted a sharp decline in Obi’s electoral performance, saying the former Labour Party candidate would not secure up to a quarter of the votes he recorded in the 2023 presidential election. Obi had polled 6,101,533 votes in that election, finishing behind the candidates of APC and PDP.
According to Bwala, Obi’s rise was driven by a temporary political moment rather than strong grassroots structures, describing him as an actor whose popularity was built on “make-believe” rather than lasting political reality.
