The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, formally defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) with some notable political leaders from the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This was as Obi declared that his decision to join the ADC was not about changing party labels, but about building a national consensus anchored on truth, sacrifice and trust between leaders and the people.
While drawing from global examples, the former governor of Anambra State, said successful leaders build consensus by being honest with their citizens and sharing in their pain.
Obi, who stated these at the colourful event that marked his official defection in Enugu, Obi took a swipe at Nigeria’s ruling elite, stressing that the country could no longer survive politics as usual as it is dangerously sliding toward collapse.
He noted that Nigeria is presently a nation in distress, noting that the unity and honesty in leadership were now matters of survival, not choice.
Obi specifically said that we cannot have a country where people who cannot tell the school they attended are meant to rule Nigerians, yet the court will say that it was a pre-election matter.
While calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fully scrutinise candidates’ qualifications ahead of future elections, Obi insisted that leadership must be anchored on personal example and moral authority.
In his words; “A leader must lead by example. If you ask the people to fast, you must not feast. The present administration is too preoccupied with hypocrisy and too disconnected from the suffering of ordinary Nigerians”.
He also lamented over what he described as monumental corruption that is openly staring the nation in the face despite repeated claims by the government that corruption was being tackled.
Obi lamented that under President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria has borrowed more than ever before, while insecurity, hunger and division have reached unprecedented levels.
According to him; “Nigeria is not a poor country. We were looted into poverty. Criminality has been normalised in governance. E. have now become a crime scene. We are called a disgraced nation.”
Obi particularly questioned the economic policies of the Tinubu-led federal government that has only punished the poor, saying; “how can you tax people who are not productive? You cannot grow revenue when people are poor”.
Present at the event were the national chairman of the ADC, Senator David Mark; former Imo State governor, Achike Udenwa; former Enugu State governor Okwesilieze Nwodo; Chief Onyema Ugochukwu; Senators Ben Obi, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Tony Nwoye and Victor Umeh, alongside several Southeast leaders.
Obi further warned that Nigerians could no longer afford indifference, thus cannot sit, wait and leave themselves to die, thus tasked citizens and political stakeholders to rally around a united front to rescue the country from further decline.
Highlight of the event was the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Emeka Ihedioha that the Southeast leaders should join the ADC as a platform for the region to be reconnected to the centre.
