By Eteteonline
Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) designated presidential candidate for 2023, has formally defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Following months of a severe leadership crisis in his former party, which had divided into two sections, Mr. Obi defected to the ADC.
On Wednesday, December 31, 2025, Obi announced at a political gathering held at the Nike Lake Resort Hotel in Enugu. Together with leaders from other political parties and his LP supporters, the former governor joined the ADC.
“We are ending this year with the hope that in 2026 we will begin a journey of rescue of our country,” Obi said.
Obi stated that since he had participated in discussions to create the opposition coalition group that chose the ADC as its platform for the general election in 2027, he was merely formally registering as an ADC member rather than switching to the party.
In order to join the “family” that will “rescue” Nigeria from bad leadership, he invited members of other political parties to join the ADC.
Obi issued a scathing indictment of Nigeria’s governing class, claiming that the nation was on the verge of collapse and that politics as usual could not continue.
Insisting that unity and integrity in leadership were now issues of survival rather than choice, he characterized Nigeria as a distressed country.
“We are saying that those who are planning to rig elections in Nigeria come 2027, we will resist it by every means lawful and legitimate.”
“So, we have all come together to ensure that we become full members of this coalition of ADC led by Senator David Mark,” he said.
“We are not going to be a family of crime. We are not going to be a family to deprives other people. We are going to be a family of change.
“A family that will create a new Nigeria. That is what the family is all about,” Mr Obi stated.
Obi urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to thoroughly examine candidates’ credentials before the upcoming elections, stating, “We cannot have a country where people who cannot tell the school they attended are meant to rule us, and the court will say it is a pre-election matter.”
Nigeria is not impoverished. Obi pointed out that it had been robbed of its prosperity and that criminality had become accepted in the government.
He claims that Nigeria has now turned into a crime scene and is referred to as a disgraced country.
Citing the recently proposed tax regime, the former governor charged President Bola Tinubu’s administration with poor leadership.
During the ceremony, a number of Southeast politicians, in addition to Mr. Obi, moved to the ADC. Enyinnaya Abaribe, a senator from Abia South, was one of the local leaders who attended the ceremony with the ADC. During the event, a former governor of Ebonyi State, Sam Egwu, from the PDP, his Anambra North counterpart, Tony Nwoye (LP), and Senator Victor Umeh (LP) from Anambra Central also moved to the ADC. At the ceremony, Ben Obi, another former PDP leader, also switched to the ADC. Gilbert Nnaji, a former senator from Enugu East who just switched from the PDP to the ADC, was also present.
The National Chairperson of the ADC, David Mark, praised Mr Obi and other defectors for their decision, assuring that the party will give everyone and every geopolitical zone a genuine sense of belonging and equal opportunity.
“Today’s event is not just a mere defection (to the ADC). It marks the foundation of a strong and winning coalition nationwide.
“The ADC is the emerging and credible alternative Nigerians are yearning for,” he said, urging the new defectors to mobilise new members into the party ahead of 2027.
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