A former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has criticised the Labour Party and its 2023 flagbearer, Peter Obi, describing them as a “short rental” arrangement that lacks the capacity to challenge Nigeria’s political status quo.
Sowore made the remarks on Sunday while appearing as a guest on Inside Sources on Channels Television.
“But in terms of real opposition. I don’t know why anybody refers to Peter Obi as an opposition. He is not opposed to anything the government is doing. He didn’t organise his supporters to fight for the election victory he claimed.
“He said nothing when fuel prices were increased. He hasn’t done anything that an opposition figure typically does,” he stated.
Sowore dismissed suggestions that Obi remains the most visible face of the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections, and reiterated his longstanding doubts about the political intent and impact of the former Anambra State governor.
“My position in 2022 and 2023 is what is unfolding now — that contrary to the impression created that Peter Obi was opposed to the system and capable of challenging it, he is, in fact, incapable of doing so.
“I also said at the time that the Labour Party was a short rental — what they call Airbnb in America. You move in; you check out when your time expires.
“When they are done with Peter Obi, they’ll move the rental to someone else. Maybe Obi doesn’t want to move out now, rightly or wrongly, or maybe he’s staying for show,” Sowore stated.
Sowore further argued that Obi’s prominence in 2023 was largely the result of religious sentiment sparked by the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“There was this whole debate around the Muslim-Muslim ticket, so Christians responded by saying, ‘If you want to Islamise Nigeria, we’ll Christianise it too’. And who was the most available Christian candidate? Peter Obi.
The former presidential candidate argued that real opposition required mobilisation, resistance, and street action — all of which he claimed Obi had avoided.
“If you say you’re opposition, you must act like it. You had six million people vote for you — if you can’t put all of them on the streets, at least put 60,000 in Abuja and see how seriously the government will take you.
“You are the ones pouring cold water on protests because you don’t want real change — you just want to replace Tinubu’s group with your own group,” he said.
Sowore also criticised the current crop of Labour Party lawmakers, noting that their growing alignment with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Look at all the Labour Party people in the National Assembly — they’re not decamping back to where they came from. They’re decamping to the APC. That’s the point; these guys are not real. They weren’t real in 2023, and they won’t be in 2027,” he asserted.
Obidient Movement Responds
But reacting via a phone conversation with Channels Television on Sunday, the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Yunusa Tanko, dismissed Sowore’s remarks, stating that Obi’s relevance in national discourse remained “unmatched.”
Tanko said, “So, the question we want to ask is this: when someone is not a worthy opposition, why do you keep talking about him? As we stand today in Nigerian politics, if they don’t talk about Peter Obi, none of them gets traction. None.
“Whether he goes to the toilet, speaks, or makes a statement, it becomes news. That’s the level of Peter Obi’s relevance in today’s political dispensation.”
Tanko also criticised the recent comment on Obi by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during a valedictory session for the late Chief Edwin Clark.
“To a point that Peter Obi was discussed at a valedictory service by no less a person than the Senate President — not even on national policy, but on character assassination. That says a lot,” he said.
He urged political opponents to focus on their future campaigns, while reaffirming the Obidient Movement’s continued support for Obi’s quest for a better Nigeria.
“They should allow Peter Obi to continue doing what he’s doing — challenging the establishment for the interests of the Nigerian people, which he will continue to do, and which we will continue to support,” he said.
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