Hakeem Baba-Ahmed Exposes Why Peter Obi and Kwankwaso Snubbed PRP for ‘Mega’ NDC; Calls New Alliance ‘Old Wine in a Digital Bottle’

The “ideological trenches” of the 2027 transition cycle have been officially drawn as the National Chairman of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, broke his silence on why the nation’s most talked-about “Third Force” duo Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso ended up in the newly formed Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) instead of the PRP. Speaking to newsmen on Wednesday night, the PRP leader claimed that while the door was open, the “technical discipline” required to lead the party of the masses was ultimately too high a price for the two heavyweights.

The announcement comes just days after the NDC’s May 9 convention, where Obi and Kwankwaso were officially ratified as the faces of the new mega alliance. According to Baba-Ahmed, the negotiations failed because the PRP refused to “water down” its socialist DNA to accommodate the broad-tent interests of the new movement. “The PRP is not a vehicle for seasonal convenience,” Baba-Ahmed stated. “We told them that in this party, the masses are the bosses. They preferred the NDC because it offers a more ‘flexible’ portal where old political habits can be rebranded with new hashtags.”

The PRP chairman further described the NDC as a “security shield” for politicians who are looking for a way to challenge the APC without actually dismantling the current system. He argued that the “Value-Addition” of the PRP is its uncompromising stance on pro-poor policies a stance he suggests the NDC leaders viewed as a “technical hurdle” to their 2027 ambitions. “They wanted a big tent; we offered a firm foundation. They chose the tent,” he added.

As the 2027 race moves from “whispers” to “war rooms,” the PRP’s refusal to merge signals a significant “technical fracture” in the opposition’s hope for a single unified front. While the NDC celebrates its star-studded membership, Baba-Ahmed’s blunt assessment suggests that the PRP is betting on the “purist” vote. For the “Iyan Zazzau” and his team, the goal is to prove that a “pure portal” for the people is more valuable than a glamorous mega-party built on compromise.