Pat Stevens/
Former Labour Party vice presidential candidate, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, has declared that Nigeria’s courts can no longer be relied upon to resolve presidential election disputes, insisting that any serious challenge to President Bola Tinubu’s grip on power must come through sustained political action rather than litigation.
Speaking on the Nigeria Right Now podcast hosted by Dickson Ireogbu, which aired on Wednesday, Baba-Ahmed said bluntly, “Whoever is going to defeat Tinubu must show your red eyes. There’s no going to court.”
The remarks, made during a recorded interview that has since circulated widely on social media, reflect deep frustration within sections of the opposition following the Supreme Court’s affirmation of Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.
Baba-Ahmed, who ran alongside Peter Obi on the Labour Party ticket, said he had privately urged Obi not to place excessive faith in the judiciary after the election.
“I told Peter Obi, Supreme Court cannot give you governor and give you presidency. Stand up and do something for God’s sake,” he said.
He argued that the Nigerian Constitution was “clearly breached”, citing Section 134(2)(b), which sets out the requirements for a valid presidential mandate.
Tinubu was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and subsequently cleared by both the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and the Supreme Court, rulings that brought all legal challenges to an end.
Despite those decisions, Baba-Ahmed maintained that constitutional questions raised by the opposition were never meaningfully resolved.
In one of the most consequential parts of the interview, Baba-Ahmed compared the post-2023 response to the resistance that followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
“If it was the June 12 people that you breached, not just the Constitution, just one small punctuation in their interest, nobody would sleep,” he said. “They organised rallies. They kept it up for decades.”
While he strongly criticised what he described as constitutional violations, Baba-Ahmed acknowledged the effectiveness of sustained political pressure in the June 12 struggle, which eventually contributed to Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999.
Baba-Ahmed repeatedly returned to his central point, stating “Whoever is going to defeat Tinubu must do red, show red eye. I think it must be who is like them. There’s no going to court.”
The phrase “show red eyes” is commonly used in Nigerian political discourse to denote unyielding determination and toughness, rather than a literal call to violence.
Nevertheless, the language has sparked debate over the tone and direction of opposition strategy in a fragile democratic environment.
The former senator also expressed scepticism about Peter Obi’s ability to successfully challenge entrenched political heavyweights in future contests, particularly former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who has publicly stated that he is not stepping down for any aspirant.
“I have competed against Atiku in a presidential primary,” Baba-Ahmed said. “I know the kind of firepower I witnessed.”
Atiku finished second in the 2023 presidential election and remains a dominant figure within opposition politics, fuelling speculation about another presidential bid.
Baba-Ahmed’s comments highlight a widening crisis of confidence in Nigeria’s electoral dispute resolution process. Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, no presidential election has been overturned by the courts, reinforcing scepticism among opposition supporters about the effectiveness of legal challenges.
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