Datti Baba-Ahmed: How social media will influence 2023 elections

Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), says social media will have a significant influence on the 2023 elections. 

He said this on Friday in an interview on Channels Television. 

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, announced Baba-Ahmed as his running mate on Friday. 

Reacting to the claim that majority of Obi’s supporters are online and this may serve as a disadvantage, Baba-Ahmed said he’s not scared. 

He said supporters Obi, who are in the diaspora, will mobilise thousands of supporters to vote in the forthcoming elections. 

“Go and start looking at the bookings of major European airlines into Nigeria, not just during Christmas time. Funnily enough, this time after Christmas — late January to the third week of February — you will see that they are getting full,” he said.

“I am into the business of data and statistics and I decided to particularly look at that. 

“This tells you that social media is going to vote. Social media, even if they’re in Canada, even if they’re in Antarctica, one person is there and he mobilises 100,000 people to go out and vote, it has succeeded. But we are not scared.

“The bank balance of any big politician is starting to be irrelevant. Those of us who sweated for the little that we have, we’re spending it very wisely and very carefully.

“Those of them who made it from government, who just open the coffers and bring it out, they’ll continue to splash it and it will continue to mean less and less till the election hour.”