Daniel Bwala Claims Peter Obi Will Join APC Ahead of 2027 Elections

Daniel Bwala, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and policy, has claimed that Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), is on the verge of leaving the party. Bwala made this assertion during an interview on TVC on Wednesday, suggesting that Obi may soon align with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections.

“Do you know we are emptying the Labour Party? Not because we are asking them to come. Valentine Ozigbo has joined us, Balami has joined us, even Peter Obi will join us,” Bwala stated.

He further argued that Obi’s political movement within the LP is weakening, especially after the defection of Valentine Ozigbo, a close political associate of the former Anambra governor. “For Valentine Ozigbo to come to our party—Valentine Ozigbo is the custodian of Peter Obi—then I know for a fact that Peter Obi will join us,” he added.

Bwala also downplayed the recent defection of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), dismissing it as an orchestrated move to capture media attention.

“You see, after one or two weeks of this mini-dramatic activity—because the way they scheme these things is that every week, you will hear a breaking news story that ‘a gladiator has joined SDP’—so they will dominate the media space,” he remarked.

He suggested that the SDP’s recruitment of political figures is a short-term strategy that will ultimately lead to internal conflicts. “By the time the two weeks is over and they can enjoy this momentary coverage, when they sit down they’ll start fighting over who will be president or vice-president,” he added.

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According to Bwala, El-Rufai’s decision to join the SDP was based on his desire for control within the party. “The reason El-Rufai did not go to the PDP is because he can’t dictate things there, but he told the world that the chairman of SDP is his friend. So they went there because they wanted to dictate,” he concluded.

El-Rufai had announced his departure from the APC on Monday, citing “conflicting values” with the ruling party. However, Bwala’s remarks suggest that the political realignments leading up to the 2027 elections are far from over, with key figures still making strategic moves.