KEY POINTS
- Peter Obi warned he would leave ADC if its internal processes are compromised, saying he would “speak out” regardless of consequences
- Obi defended his party switches from APGA through PDP and Labour as decisions driven by refusal to participate in flawed systems
- Obi accused the ruling party and FG of masterminding the Labour Party crisis that led to his departure
Peter Obi on Monday signaled a possible Obi ADC exit if the party’s internal processes fail, telling Arise Television’s Prime Time he would not remain in any political structure that compromises the integrity of its democratic procedures.
“I am in ADC with the same people, some of whom I left in PDP and other parties, but we are going through the same process. If that process is again compromised, I will speak out,” Obi said. The former Anambra State governor also defended his history of party switches, insisting that principle, not convenience, drove each departure.
From APGA to Labour: A history of principled exits
Meanwhile, Obi traced his political journey across four parties. He said he left APGA because of tensions with his successor as governor, adding that staying would have made the situation “toxic and destructive” for the state. He then left PDP over transactional primaries.
“In PDP, people were not playing by the rules. It was transactional. I cannot be part of a transactional primary. I cannot be paying people to serve them, so I moved to Labour,” he said.
Furthermore, Obi accused the ruling party and the Federal Government of orchestrating the crisis that pushed him out of the Labour Party, citing an eight-month gap between a Supreme Court ruling against the party in April and INEC’s recognition of it the following January.
Obi: I’ll move twenty times rather than compromise integrity
However, Obi stressed that any Obi ADC exit would follow the same principled logic as all his previous departures. “If I have to move twenty times, I will do it. You cannot use the process of yesterday to build tomorrow,” he said.
Additionally, Obi denied any involvement in electoral malpractice or judicial influence. “I’ve never been involved in any form of rigging. I’ve never been part of paying people in the judiciary or anywhere to give me a judgment I do not deserve,” he stated.
