The Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has dismissed suggestions that Labour Party’s Peter Obi poses a major political threat to the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 general election.

He argued that Obi’s performance in the 2023 presidential election was driven by public anger over the economic policies of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

The former Edo State Governor stated this on Monday during an appearance on TVC News’ Beyond The Headlines.

Responding to a question on whether the APC was underestimating Obi’s political influence, particularly after his victory in Lagos and strong showing in the South-East during the 2023 election, Oshiomhole said the former Anambra State governor emerged from an “unusual situation” rather than personal political strength.

“No, not at all, not at all. Obi was produced by an unusual situation when a ruling party decided to destroy itself, making anybody running on its platform almost unelectable. It was that confusion that produced those votes,”Oshiomhole said.

The former Nigeria Labour Congress President blamed the cash crunch caused by the naira redesign policy and the fuel scarcity that preceded the 2023 election for the widespread voter dissatisfaction that, according to him, benefited Obi.

According to Oshiomhole, Nigerians were frustrated after being unable to access their money despite having funds in their bank accounts.

“People had money in the bank but couldn’t access it. They queued all night at ATM machines just to withdraw ₦10,000, and after a week, even the ATMs were dry,” he said.

He added that many Nigerians also had to pay high charges to Point of Sale operators to obtain cash during the period.

“Someone asked why people would queue all night to withdraw ₦5,000, then queue again for fuel, and still expect them to queue on election day to vote for the same government. That anger was what produced Obi,” he said.

Oshiomhole argued that voters had already become disillusioned with the Peoples Democratic Party before the APC government introduced policies that worsened economic hardship on the eve of the election.

He also recalled conversations with constituents who blamed the government for the hardship caused by the cash shortage.

“A woman in my village told me, ‘You said I should keep my money in the bank, but when I went to collect it, they said there was no money. At the POS, they deducted ₦2,000 from ₦5,000. How do I survive?’”

The senator maintained that the policies responsible for the hardship were not part of the APC’s political agenda.

“I told her what Buhari was doing at that time was not APC policy. It was that anger that influenced the outcome of the election,” he said.

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The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Tuesday, nullified the judgment of the Federal High Court ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by a three-member panel of justices led by Justice Abba Mohammed, the appellate court held that the June 15 judgment of the Federal High Court was a nullity, having been delivered without jurisdiction.

The appellate court held that the trial court wrongly assumed jurisdiction and made the order on an incompetent suit filed by a non-juristic entity.

It held that there was no valid suit that could have warranted the consequential order directing INEC to deregister the affected political parties.

The appellate court further held that the trial court failed to properly evaluate the evidence before it, noting that proof showing the parties had won various elective seats in previous elections was ignored.

It also held that the lower court acted in defiance of an order directing it to stay proceedings pending the determination of an interlocutory appeal.

The appellate court consequently held that the Federal High Court ought to have dismissed the substantive suit for want of jurisdiction and merit.

It allowed the separate appeals filed by the political parties, restored their registration, and awarded costs against the National Forum of Former Legislators, which instituted the suit.

The affected parties are the African Democratic Congress, Action Peoples Party, Action Alliance, Accord Party and Zenith Labour Party.

The appellate court declared that all the affected political parties remain duly registered.

The appellate court had, on June 16, stayed the execution of the trial court’s judgment pending the determination of the appeals.

In its decision, the panel faulted the conduct of Justice Peter Lifu for proceeding with the case, despite an earlier order made on May 22 directing him to stay proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal.

The appellate court noted that although Justice Lifu’s attention had been drawn to the stay order, he proceeded to deliver judgment.

It described the action as “a form of judicial impertinence,” adding that the Supreme Court had previously held that a judge who acts in such a manner “is unfit for the bench, as the conduct amounts to judicial rascality.”

The PUNCH reports that Justice Lifu had ordered INEC to deregister the five political parties after holding that they failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements for their continued existence.

He also restrained INEC from recognising the parties, accepting candidates sponsored by them or giving effect to their activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The judgment followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, instituted by the National Forum of Former Legislators.

The plaintiff had asked the court to determine whether INEC was constitutionally bound under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and its regulations, to deregister political parties that failed to meet prescribed electoral performance thresholds.

The forum argued that the affected parties failed to secure at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election, or win at least one elective seat at the national, state or local government levels as required by law.

It further contended that the parties’ poor performance in the 2023 general election and subsequent by-elections rendered their continued registration unconstitutional and detrimental to the integrity of the electoral process.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who was joined as a defendant in the suit, supported the plaintiffs’ case, arguing that retaining the affected political parties was inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution and undermined the country’s electoral integrity.

Dissatisfied with the Federal High Court judgment, the affected political parties and INEC filed separate appeals, urging the Court of Appeal to set it aside.

The appellate court upheld the appeals and vacated the judgment in its entirety.

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The New Nigeria People’s Party has raised concerns over an alleged attempt by former leaders to collapse its structure in support of a Peter Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso presidential ticket in the Nigeria Democratic Congress ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a swift reaction, the NDC leadership denied the allegation, saying the opposition was delusional for coming up with such an allegation.

The fresh war of words comes days after the NNPP denied reports of a secret pact to align with the NDC for an Obi-Kwankwaso joint ticket, insisting it only nominated a placeholder presidential candidate to meet electoral timelines while keeping its options open for future political alliances.

Two months ago, the immediate past National Chairman of the NNPP, Bala Yusuf, had denied the speculation that he was working with the Kwankwasiyya Movement to collapse and align the presidential and vice presidential slots for the O-K ticket in solidarity with his principal, Kwankwaso.

The former NNPP chair clarified in an interview held on the sidelines of the party’s 11th National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja.

In the past six months, the party has lost Kwankwaso and former National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, to the Nigeria Democratic Congress.

The NNPP also lost its only elected governor, Abba Yusuf of Kano State, alongside his political appointees, to the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The immediate past national chairman, however, insisted that the party had not entered into any agreement with Kwankwaso or any other political party despite growing speculation that the NNPP could align with the NDC following Kwankwaso’s recent defection to the coalition platform.

The new national chairman of the NNPP, Major Agbo, however, claimed that Yusuf lied.

In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, Agbo identified and accused the Yusuf-led leadership of masterminding the move to advance what he described as the “O-K arrangement with the NDC.

Agbo said, “He lied. You don’t need a seer to tell you that was what they wanted to do if the status quo had remained the way it was before we came in. They would have eventually collapsed the entire structure into their principal’s arrangement. That’s the level of greed that is in them.

“But let’s not dissipate energy into discussing that because they are gone. We are done with them. For us, the primary responsibility of every political party is to field candidates for election.

“The way our laws are structured, you do not only need to field candidates, but you also have to win. If you don’t win, you get cancelled as a political party.”

On why the party fielded a placeholder instead of a notable candidate,  the national chairman explained that the move was made solely to comply with electoral timelines after running short of time to identify stronger contenders.

“I have explained repeatedly that our decision to field a placeholder is not because we are rushing into an alliance or any form of understanding with anybody.

“But within the period that the window is available, you just have to do something, even if you have to return to it later to make one or two changes.

“But at least the most important thing is that something has to happen as long as the window for that thing is open.

“So we did that because it’s a normal thing that every other political party does. However, that is not to say that we intend to work with the ruling party or this idea of Obi-Kwankwaso.

“This party has resolved never, under any circumstance, to have anything to do with Kwankwaso, Buba Galadima and any of his jokers. It’s not possible.

“But that is not to say that we are foreclosing any chances of having any form of alliance. No party is an island. We believe in the more, the better. That has always been the position of the NNPP since it was registered in 2002,” he added.

Going down memory lane, Agbo said that, checking through all the election cycles before now, it would be observed that NNPP didn’t present candidates.

“I think in 2007 or so, we didn’t present any. In 2003, we presented Kalu Idika Kalu,” he stated.

The NNPP, however, said it remained open to political alliances ahead of the 2027 general election, stressing that it had not ruled out working with any presidential candidate whose vision aligned with the party’s manifesto and constitution.

The party added that once the window for substitution opens, it will replace the placeholder with a more formidable candidate if one emerges.

Responding, the NDC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Abdulmumin Abdulsalam, dismissed the allegation of collusion, stressing that the Seriake Dickson-led leadership had no pact with the NNPP and was not seeking any political arrangement with it.

He said, “We have no pact with the NNPP or any party, especially in the local political landscape of Kano State. The NDC is a moving train and the momentum we have at the moment is enough for us.

“We don’t need any pact. If there is a need for such, it is the other party saying they are not going into any collaboration that should be begging us for a partnership to be able to survive beyond 2027. They need it to avoid going into extinction.

“The NNPP that you just mentioned is not different from an old shirt or cloth you once put on. You are bound to discard it as you get older. So you no longer look up to it to wear it again because it’s an old cloth.

“As far as we are concerned, His Excellency Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and his teeming supporters in Kano are no longer in the party. The NNPP is his former party. It is now an old cloth which he cannot go back to wear,” he said.

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