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'2027: Coalition without vision is power-grab in disguise'

Published 13 hours ago3 minute read

From Sola Ojo, Abuja

Excerpts:

A political coalition has been formed to challenge President Tinubu in 2027. What’s your general impression of it?

I welcome the coalition as a legitimate platform to present a viable opposition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. However, I’m deeply concerned about its composition. Some members simply have no business being there. Their political track records are uninspiring, and their return seems more about regaining access to power than pursuing national transformation.

Yes. Take Rotimi Amaechi, for instance. He’s been in government since 1999. He served as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years. He served as Rivers State Governor for eight years, and minister also for about eight years. After more than two decades in power, he’s now lamenting hunger just two years out of office. You have to ask: what did he do with all the resources and influence he had? His coalition involvement doesn’t look like public service; it looks like a strategic re-entry into power corridors. Nigerians should not forget in hurry that he lost the APC primary to Tinubu, and this coalition seems like a rebranding effort.

El-Rufai’s case is slightly more nuanced. At least he admitted that he helped build the political structure that brought Tinubu to power. That’s rare political self-awareness. But let’s not overrate it. He championed the Muslim-Muslim ticket in Kaduna, which later served as a national blueprint for the All Progressives Congress (APC). He played a significant role in Tinubu’s campaign. But once sidelined, post-election, he flipped. His new posture is less about principles and more about personal betrayal.

It’s a crowded field. Tinubu remains the APC’s frontrunner, backed by APC governors and powerful states. Atiku Abubakar is still in the race, believing it’s his turn. Peter Obi is also preparing to contest again, and there’s talk that he might promise a single four-year term if supported by parties like the ADC. But let’s be honest with ourselves because we know this is politics. It’s hard to imagine any candidate, including Obi, stepping down after just one term, if elected. The system rarely allows that kind of restraint.

It is a major challenge. Founding members have gone to court, disputing the legitimacy of the party’s interim leadership. That may take up to the Supreme Court. Until that legal issue is resolved, the ADC will struggle to play a meaningful national role. It’s part of the broader power struggle among politicians—motivated more by ambition than national interest.

That is the million-dollar question. Social media clout is not the same as ground-level political structure. In 2023, many Labour Party candidates lacked coordination and even polling agents in critical areas. That left the party exposed and underrepresented in many polling units. So, unless Obi reassesses his strategy and builds actual grassroots machinery, online energy alone won’t win elections.

Atiku knows that if a primary is held, he’s likely to win. Obi’s camp is wary of this, and rightly so. If Obi loses and agrees to be a running mate, many of his supporters would feel betrayed. It is a political risk with serious consequences.

Yes, people are angry, no doubt about that. But people have always been angry. Even as far back as 1960, Nigerians were angry. The truth is, we live in a country where ‘yesterday’ is always seen as better than ‘today.’ That’s a dangerous pattern because it suggests that we’re moving backward, not forward.

If public anger had ever been channelled into real mass action, things might have changed. But it hasn’t because the political class will never allow that, especially the type of politicians we know, those who, when they were in power, did little or nothing for their people. That’s the reality.

Origin:
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The Sun Nigeria
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