Former members of Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential campaign team have declared support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, pledging to mobilise former Obidient supporters and other Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general election.
The group, known as Batified Obidients, announced its political alignment with Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) during its launch in Abuja on Wednesday, saying it would work to expand the President’s support base, particularly in states where opposition candidates defeated him in 2023.
Speaking with journalists after the launch, the group’s National Coordinator, Adesina Fagbenro-Byron, said the movement would concentrate its mobilisation efforts in areas where opposition candidates had won in the last presidential election.
“In our speech, we said that we mobilised especially in places where opposition to Mr President won,” he said.
Fagbenro-Byron expressed confidence that the group’s activities would contribute to Tinubu’s re-election, predicting a decisive victory for the President.
“Tinubu is not just going to win; he’s going to convincingly win so much that going to court will appear as wisdom. Not because anybody has questions for the court, but because the difference will be clear,” he said.
Earlier, in a keynote address read on his behalf by the group’s Deputy National Coordinator and former Head of Logistics of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Fabian Ozoigbo Chukwudoruo, Fagbenro-Byron formally announced the movement’s support for Tinubu.
“We are former Labour Party and Obidient supporters. We are now shifting our support to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and adopting the All Progressives Congress, the APC, as our political vehicle for 2027, under the name Batified Obidients,” the address stated.
The group said its members had worked within the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council during the 2023 election but had since decided to support Tinubu following their assessment of their campaign experience and the performance of the current administration.
It said it would collaborate with APC structures and Tinubu support groups nationwide to strengthen grassroots mobilisation ahead of the next election.
Batified Obidients also expressed its intention to attract former campaign associates, undecided voters and other Nigerians, while acknowledging that some former Obidient supporters had aligned with other political platforms.
“We may not be able to bring every Obidient onto this platform. Some have since moved to the ADC, some to the NDC, and some remain with the Labour Party. We respect their choices and wish them well. But we will welcome a substantial number of them here—enough to strengthen our movement, to add significant energy and numbers to the cause we now share, and to make a meaningful contribution to the political direction of our country,” the group said.
The movement said its members would register across the country, establish campaign structures, participate in political rallies and work with other support groups to advance Tinubu’s re-election campaign.
