The National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the Labour Party, Abayomi Arabambi, has said former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will not return to the party.
Arabambi made the remarks during an interview on News Central on Thursday, dismissing moves by some party stakeholders to bring Obi back into the fold.
“Nenadi will try, but Obi can never come back to Labour Party,” he said, adding that party leaders had already reached an understanding on their political direction.
According to him, the decision followed the party’s internal crisis and consultations among key figures, including Abure-led leadership and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti.
“Because of the intractable crisis… we have all settled that we will support the second term and ambition of Mr President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Arabambi stated.
He alleged that former Minister Nenadi Usman was pushing for Obi’s return, insisting such a move would not succeed.
“She should perish that thought… that Peter Obi will come back into the Labour Party,” he said, claiming she was closely aligned with Obi’s political interests.
Arabambi also criticised Obi’s past role in the party, blaming him and his supporters for internal challenges during the 2023 election.
“They were the ones that messed up that election… It wasn’t Tinubu that made us lose 4.7 million votes from 53,000 polling units where they failed to feed the agents,” he said.
He further ruled out any future presidential bid by Obi on the party’s platform, adding that current efforts to reposition the party are focused elsewhere.
“We will not be beating the second time, once beaten twice shy,” Arabambi said.
Reaffirming the party’s stance, he noted that its leadership had resolved to back President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for another term, insisting that “all of us are going to work for the emergence of President Tinubu for another four years.”
