Peter Obi's media team has accused the presidency of engineering the African Democratic Congress (ADC) crisis as part of a sustained effort to block Obi from contesting the 2027 presidential election. The Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) alleged in a Monday statement that the plot began after the 2023 vote, with the ruling party infiltrating the Labour Party and manipulating the judiciary to prevent Obi from stabilizing his party. The statement claimed lower courts repeatedly defied the Supreme Court's April 2025 ruling that upheld Senator Esther Nenadi Usman's interim leadership, endorsed by Obi, as the legitimate Labour Party executive. It added that Obi left the Labour Party on December 31, 2025, after which courts suddenly moved on January 7, 2026 to dismiss rival factions led by Julius Abure.
The media office said the presidency intensified sabotage after Obi joined the ADC, pointing to a March 2027 Kano rally where former Kano governor Rabiu Kwankwaso formally backed the party. It alleged that the government pressured the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reinterpret an Appeal Court ruling and remove the ADC's leadership, threatening Obi's eligibility. POMR warned that these moves aim to create a facade of choice while pushing Nigeria toward a one-party system, warning the plan would betray millions of young, female and intellectual Nigerians seeking an end to corruption and wasteful governance.
The accusation that President Bola Tinubu's government is weaponizing courts and electoral institutions to sideline Peter Obi reads like a direct admission that Nigeria's democracy is now a stage-managed performance. If the ADC's leadership was removed within weeks of Obi's defection, the implication is that any politician who threatens the status quo risks instant disqualification through legal technicalities rather than electoral competition.
