Babachir Lawal, a former secretary to the government of the federation and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, has excoriated Peter Obi for leaving the coalition party ahead of the 2027 elections.

Mr Lawal, in an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday, attributed Mr Obi’s defection to his fear of losing out in an open contest.

“I don’t think it is suspicion. I think it’s fear. He doesn’t want to participate in primaries. He prefers to be a consensus candidate, and that consensus must be him. And a democrat, a politician who fears election, I think, has no business being one,” the politician stated.

Mr Lawal’s statement came days after Mr Obi, alongside former Kano governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, left the ADC for the National Democratic Congress ahead of the 2027 elections.

The politician stated that Mr Obi was never committed to the ADC in the first place, adding that the coalition specifically made concessions to accommodate the former Anambra governor into the party.

“Peter Obi joined the coalition after it had all begun for quite a long time. He had always been somebody that is very shifty when it came to ADC. We never felt his heart was in it.

“To accommodate Peter Obi, we offered him to single-handedly bring the organising secretary of the party. We never extended that goodwill to any other member of the party,” he added.

“This is a political party of heavyweights, former this, former that, everybody, some with ambition, some like us with no ambition. And the only way you can make progress is to create a level playing field for everybody,” Mr Lawal explained.

However, the interim national coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Yunusa Tanko, said on Wednesday that Mr Obi was not afraid of an objective and transparent contest.

“Peter Obi has been the only one who has been challenging the government. He has never refused to be in an open, clearly objective and transparent contest, not a manipulated contest infused with money. If he is afraid of losing in a contest, why is he running for the presidency?” Mr Tanko told the Peoples Gazette on Wednesday.

Mr Tanko described Mr Obi’s defection as strategic, insisting that his departure from the ADC was driven by the party’s legal crises.