Renowned scholar, economist, and former presidential candidate, Pat Utomi has described the defection of former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the New Democratic Congress (NDC) as a strategic and timely move, while also criticising the internal democracy of political parties in Nigeria.
Utomi, who was recently appointed deputy chairman of the ADC manifesto and policy committee before the party crisis triggered a political realignment, made the remarks during an interview.
He said, with hindsight, Obi would have been politically “trapped” had he not made the switch.
“The way the process has been managed generally across the board makes all the primary processes a complete farce. It doesn’t matter what party; they are all a farce of sorts, with party bosses more or less imposing people,” he said.
Utomi, who noted that he was abroad when the move to the NDC occurred, explained that he had initially advocated staying within the ADC to reform it from within. However, he said what he described as undemocratic manoeuvres were being used to block certain candidates from appearing on ballots.
“They had to play quick to escape being caught in the trap. And perhaps, in the benefit of hindsight, maybe they were wise,” he added.
On his role amid the shifting political alliances, Utomi said he had activated his “Big Tent” coalition—a long-standing cross-party platform aimed at national reform—immediately after learning of the ADC-to-NDC transition. He stressed that the initiative would remain independent of any political party structure.
“It doesn’t matter what party at any point in time I may or may not seem to be identified with; I have a problem with most of them,” he said.
He further explained that the manifesto project he had been involved in had not collapsed but had instead been absorbed into the Big Tent framework, which he said was working on a broader national agenda open to all capable political actors.
On Nigeria’s fragmented opposition ahead of the 2027 elections, with figures such as Atiku Abubakar and Obi aligned to different platforms, Utomi criticised what he described as an obsession with political office.
“This obsession with power and public office is a disease Nigerian political actors need to be purged of,” he said, adding that the country’s political class needed deep reform in mindset and leadership orientation.
He also cited what he described as repetitive leadership experience in Nigerian politics, arguing that many politicians merely recycle the same approaches without innovation.
On his earlier remarks about live transmission and global monitoring of polling unit results, Utomi clarified that the initiative originated from the Big Tent framework rather than the NDC itself. He said the idea was to strengthen electoral transparency through multiple verification channels, including civil society groups, diaspora networks, and religious organisations.
He added that plans were underway to introduce a “Voter Corps” scheme, partly funded by diaspora Nigerians, which would reward individuals who upload polling unit results in real time with monetary incentives.
“That will energise Nigerians and make them interested in this process,” he said.
Reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s economic performance claims, Utomi was critical, arguing that official statistics did not reflect the realities faced by ordinary citizens. Bola Tinubu
He further warned that Nigeria was repeating what he described as outdated economic prescriptions that have failed in similar developing economies, adding that he is currently documenting these concerns in a forthcoming book.