Obi's men are lobbying us, 7 aspirants queuing up for our ticket - SDP chieftain

Olu Agunsoye, the National Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has claimed loyalists of Peter Obi, a former Labour Party presidential flag-bearer, have begun to lobby his party to prepare the ground for a possible defection.

Agunsoye's claim comes amid ongoing political permutations and realignments ahead of the 2027 presidential election. The top actors are currently shopping for special-purpose vehicles among the existing 19 political parties, excluding the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The idea of a mega opposition coalition has been floated several times and remains under consideration. However, it has failed to gather serious traction since former Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasiru El-Rufai's defection to the SDP.

Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday, March 21, 2025, Agunsoye disclosed that the SDP has already attracted the interest of eight presidential aspirants.

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“We have eight presidential aspirants; it could be 10. Seven of them are on our platform,” he stated.

The SDP chieftain didn't mention the names of the presidential aspirants but said his party can't afford to lose any of the interested political heavyweights to other parties.

Obi's men lobbying the SDP

The SDP National Secretary also disclosed that lobbyists claiming to be working for Obi, who has yet to declare his intention to join the party officially, have been working to facilitate his defection.

“Obi’s people came to us to say if Obi comes, would you take him? Of course, we told them: ‘Yes’. I was in that meeting. Some of them are with us saying that they are preparing the ground but you have to join SDP. You cannot be in the Labour Party and be telling us Obi is coming without joining us otherwise we can’t open our doors for you.

“But Obi may have no plan to come or he may want to come. People do all of this but where we stand is that we must do well in our platform,” Agunsoye said.

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The revelation comes after possible inter-party alliance talks reached a climax on Thursday, March 20, 2025, when opposition arrowhead Atiku Abubakar, alongside Obi and El-Rufai, amongst others, announced a coalition to oust President Bola Tinubu's APC.