Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, says he is confident that an ongoing legal matter involving the African Democratic Congress (ADC) will be resolved in the party’s favour at the Supreme Court.
Obi spoke on Tuesday during the ADC national convention in Abuja.
“I’m sure it will favour us. It will favour us because they have taken a decision on it before, that INEC have no reason to be involved in internal affairs of a party,” he said.
He, however, noted that the party must remain prepared for any outcome of the court process.
“But if they say it doesn’t favour us… if they scrap the party, what will I do? Of course, we must be on the ballot,” he added.
Obi also stressed the need for transparency in party primaries, insisting that candidates must emerge through free, fair and credible processes.
“The primary must be free and fair and transparent. We cannot say we want to change Nigeria and be involved,” he said.
He denied ever participating in what he described as “transactional” or money-driven primaries, adding that leadership selection must be based on integrity.
“I, as Peter Obi, have not been involved in a transactional primary. Go ask anybody. Nobody will ever tell you that Peter Obi gave money to vote for him,” he said.
Obi criticised past political party processes, alleging that previous primaries were influenced by financial inducement, but insisted that the ADC process would be different.
“What we saw in 2022 was that the primaries were dollarised… it was a money primary. This one will never be,” he said.
He added that the ADC must present a credible alternative to address Nigeria’s worsening security and economic challenges.
Obi cited rising insecurity, poverty, unemployment and lack of access to basic services as evidence of national decline, warning that urgent reforms are needed.
“We want to build a new Nigeria… a country where a child of nobody can become somebody without knowing anybody,” he said.
