Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has taken a sharp jab at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, blasting his repeated presidential bids and declaring that Nigeria urgently needs a new generation of leaders.
Datti accused Atiku of dominating Nigeria’s presidential race for decades without delivering the change Nigerians desperately seek, arguing that the country cannot continue recycling the same political figures.
Recounting their long political overlap, Datti said Atiku has been contesting for the presidency since his own youth days.
“When I was doing my NYSC (National Youth Service Corps), Baba Atiku was already an aspirant. In 2018, we contested primaries together. In 2023, we contested again; I as a vice president elsewhere, when his own vice president had left him. And now, for God’s sake, in 2027 again,” he said.
The Labour Party chieftain described Nigeria’s political terrain as hostile and discouraging to genuine reformers, blaming godfatherism, money politics and broken promises for pushing capable Nigerians out of the system.
“There is a need for a new generation of Nigerian leaders, and they do exist,” Datti said. “A whole new generation is waiting for a new leader to lead them to a new party.”
According to him, Nigeria is not short of competence, but the political structure frustrates credible people with integrity and vision.
“There are good Nigerians, there are people capable of fixing Nigeria’s problems, but they are discouraged by the expensive, difficult and treacherous system full of godfathers and bad promises,” he stated.
Still, Datti insisted that hope remains alive, stressing that many Nigerians are searching for honest leadership to rescue the country.
“There are good Nigerians who are looking for that leader to lead them to fix Nigeria’s problems,” he said.
