Former Borno State governor and ex-national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, says Peter Obi will return to the PDP ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Sheriff made the claim on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, on Monday, suggesting that Obi — who ran as Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in 2023 — will eventually return to his former party and contest on its platform.
“As far as this politics is concerned, ADC doesn’t exist. Give the party three months and it will die down,” Sheriff said. “The information available to me is that at any moment from now, Peter Obi will go back to PDP and run as a presidential candidate under PDP.”
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, resigned from the PDP in May 2022, just days before its presidential primary. He joined the LP on May 27, 2022, and went on to become its presidential flagbearer in the 2023 elections, where he finished third behind Bola Tinubu (APC) and Atiku Abubakar (PDP).
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In recent weeks, discussions about Obi’s political future have intensified, particularly following his alignment with the newly formed Coalition for Nigeria platform, which includes the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and other parties.
But Bolaji Abdullahi, interim national publicity secretary of the ADC, rejected Sheriff’s claim, insisting Obi remains part of the coalition and is unlikely to return to the PDP.
“Peter is in the coalition regardless of what anybody is saying,” Abdullahi said on Arise Television’s Prime Time. “Everyone knows that the jugular of PDP is still in the hands of the ruling party. Peter Obi, more than anyone else, knows that he cannot take the risk of going to the PDP.”
He said the coalition was still in its early days and not yet focused on selecting a presidential candidate.
“Our party is one month old. We are focused on developing the party, building structures, and establishing systems that demonstrate our commitment to democracy,” Abdullahi said. “The question of who becomes the flagbearer… is a question we are going to answer down the line.”
The PDP has not officially commented on Sheriff’s claims, but party elder Jerry Gana recently hinted at ongoing efforts to woo Obi back into the fold.
