Nigeria’s political history has been shaped by moments of intense rivalry, but few periods remain as defining as the 2015 general elections. According to Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s Vice-Presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, the desperation to unseat then-President Goodluck Jonathan marked the beginning of the insecurity Nigeria is battling today.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed reflected on the events that fueled the atmosphere of violence and instability before and after the 2015 polls.
“I contested against the late President Muhammadu Buhari in 2011. But from the moment he made that infamous security threat statement, I distanced myself from him,” he revealed.
The Kaduna-born politician recalled how Buhari once warned that Nigerians would be “soaked in blood”—a statement that coincided with widespread violence in Kaduna, where many homes were burned down in the aftermath of elections.
Baba-Ahmed alleged that beyond local unrest, individuals were reportedly mobilized from neighboring countries to ensure Jonathan was removed from power at all costs.
He stressed that this desperation to change leadership, without considering the long-term consequences, sowed the seeds of today’s widespread insecurity, insurgency, and instability across Nigeria.
For Baba-Ahmed, the lessons from 2015 remain clear: when politics becomes about force rather than democracy, the people ultimately pay the price.
