The Presidency and former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, yesterday expressed doubts over the chances of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time that President Tinubu’s performance in office would serve as his strongest campaign asset.

Onanuga said the All Progressives Congress (APC) is unbothered by the recent coalition of opposition figures under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing it as no threat.

“They are free to form alliances, but as far as the APC is concerned, we are not seeing them as any threat… If you merge Peter Obi and Atiku, there is no way the two of them can beat a Bola Tinubu and Shettima ticket. It is going to be impossible,” he said.

He criticised the coalition’s timing, saying, “They are jumping the gun; it is not yet time for politicking.”

Responding to reports linking President Tinubu to the internal crisis within the ADC, Onanuga maintained that the president supports freedom of expression and had no involvement in the party’s troubles.

“Tinubu supports freedom of speech and freedom of expression. He doesn’t have any hand in the challenges they are facing in the ADC. He was not even in Nigeria when the internal problems they are facing started,” he said.

On Atiku and Obi’s political viability within the ADC framework, Onanuga said, “Atiku has been in the race more than Tinubu and Obi. He has tried several times to become president, but he always fails at the gate. If you look at the configuration and geography of our country, the last time Atiku came out, he was trying to whip up the sentiment of ‘I’m your son,’ and the South rejected him. If you have an Obi that you want to use as your running mate, that fact doesn’t mean you will get the exact votes you would get when he vied for president.”

He added that President Tinubu has done a lot for the North and would earn support from that region in return. “In terms of appointments, he has appointed people from the North-West and North-East into good positions, and I think in politics, a good turn deserves a response from people who are beneficiaries of Tinubu’s government,” he said.

“There is a lot of noise all over the place, and it doesn’t tally with the reality on the ground. People are benefiting from the Tinubu-led government, and at the right time, Tinubu will tap into that — people under him have enjoyed,” Onanuga concluded.

SIMILARLY, speaking in Lagos, Chief Bode George said the proposed alliance would not be enough to defeat President Tinubu, adding that the coalition formed under the African Democratic Congress was driven by personal ambition rather than genuine ideological alignment.

He argued that such alliances would likely collapse once the interests of those involved were not met.

According to George, “It is still the turn of the South to produce the president in 2027.” He added that Atiku, aware he would not clinch the PDP ticket, had moved to the ADC to pursue his presidential ambition through another platform.

George also used the occasion to call on former PDP members who have defected to other parties to return to the party. He said the PDP, which mentored and nurtured many of them politically, remains their true political home.

He likened leaving the PDP to abandoning a family house in need of repair instead of working together to fix it.

The former PDP chairman expressed concern that party members involved in the coalition were ignoring the PDP’s zoning arrangement, which, he said, was central to the party’s philosophy of fairness and inclusiveness. He emphasised that the party’s internal structure was designed to ensure equitable representation by rotating positions among different regions.

MEANWHILE, the Interim National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, has called on party members to set aside personal differences and unite to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general elections.

Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting held yesterday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, the former Osun State governor stressed that only a united ADC can pose a serious threat to the APC-led government of President Bola Tinubu.

Aregbesola, who also served as Minister of Interior, revealed that the ADC had secured the support of major opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi, in the lead-up to the next election cycle.

He said, “Let us work together, let us put personal interest aside, and let’s get united. It is that unity we want. We should remember that we have many elections ahead; we have the presidential, the National Assembly, and the state assembly elections.

“We still have time, but with a big task. If we unite, we won’t be defeated in the elections. Unity is paramount in this situation.”

Professor of political economy, Pat Utomi, has unveiled members of a shadow cabinet aimed at offering policy alternatives to the federal government, describing the move as a credible step towards improving governance and national development.

Speaking at the conclusion of a two-day retreat of the “Big Tent” political coalition in Abuja, Utomi declared that the emergence of the African Democratic Congress coalition represents a viable political alternative for Nigerians. He said the ADC’s adoption as a coalition party signals a shift towards value-based leadership and governance focused on national progress.

According to Arise TV, Utomi announced key appointments in the shadow cabinet, including Nana Kazaure (Information), Riwang Pam (Security), Nike Omola (Women and Gender Development), and Peter Agada (Infrastructure, Urban Development and Housing). He clarified that the shadow cabinet is not an attempt to usurp the role of the ruling All Progressives Congress, but to provide expert policy reviews that can guide national development.

“Our purpose is not to compete with the government but to enrich governance through constructive alternative views,” he said. “Good governance depends on the welfare of the people, and for that, we must ensure policy accountability and alternatives.’’

Utomi recalled that he had pitched the idea of a shadow cabinet to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2007, but declined an offer to join his government. He reiterated that the coalition is a work in progress, driven by value-based projects aimed at national transformation.

On May 5, Utomi had formally announced a shadow government under the Big Tent Coalition, presenting it as a credible opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Meanwhile, the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed September 29 for judgment in a suit filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) against Utomi over his alleged plan to establish a “shadow government”.

Justice James Omotosho fixed the date after hearing arguments from the parties involved, including submissions by seven amici curiae (friends of the court) invited to offer independent opinions.

Counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), argued that Utomi’s shadow government has no constitutional basis, describing it as an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s democratic system. He said, “The right to express one’s freedom is granted, but there is a limitation where the exercise of such right brings tension against the government of the day. We must not allow the cat to get out of the cage before chasing it.”

Responding, Utomi’s lawyer, Professor Mike Ozekhome (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the case was an attempt to silence Nigerians critical of the current administration.

“They are trying to hand my lord strong chains, stronger than those that dehumanised slaves over 500 years ago, to chain Nigerians,” Ozekhome said, warning that such a move would encourage totalitarian rule.

Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, has advised officials in President Bola Tinubu’s administration to be conscious of their legacy, noting that power is transient.

el-Rufai gave the charge yesterday at the unveiling of a book titled OPL245: The Inside Story of the $1.3b Nigerian Oil Bloc, authored by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice under President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN).

He said books of such nature are important not only for setting the record straight and providing context, but also for cultivating a culture of memoir writing among public servants. “We don’t try it enough in this country,” he said.

“I appeal to those in power today to remember that their turn will come. Our turn always comes,” el-Rufai added.

Reflecting on Adoke’s role during the 2015 transition of power, El-Rufai noted that Adoke stood behind former President Jonathan and was among those who persuaded him to concede defeat to then-candidate Muhammadu Buhari. He expressed surprise that Adoke later faced persecution by the Buhari administration, and said he looked forward to reading the book for greater understanding.

“We should actually thank him as the APC government of 2015, not persecute him. I had several discussions with President Buhari, as you know, I was very close to him, and I didn’t see that he had any extra interest in the matter apart from the rule of law,” he said.

A social scientist and traditional ruler of Daffo in Bokkos Local Council, Plateau State, Jonathan Sunday Akuns, has cautioned political actors working to unseat President Bola Tinubu to respect Nigeria’s long-standing power-sharing principle, which alternates leadership between the North and the South.

Speaking to The Guardian amid ongoing disagreements within the African Democratic Congress over zoning the 2027 presidential ticket, Akuns warned that a failure to uphold the rotational arrangement could derail the very objectives of the emerging opposition coalition. He noted that the same disregard for balance and fairness had once crippled the Peoples Democratic Party.

Akuns, who also serves as co-convener of the Movement for National Rebirth (MNR), acknowledged that coalitions are a legitimate tool for political restructuring. However, he cautioned that those forming alliances must be guided by clear philosophies and shared goals.

He expressed concern that the desperation of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to secure the presidential ticket could undermine the coalition’s credibility, particularly in the eyes of voters in the Middle Belt.

According to Akuns, “It would be uncharitable for any northern politician in the coalition to contest the presidential election in 2027, four years after President Muhammadu Buhari served out eight years in office.”

He added, “So, we are worried that coalitions, which should have been a way to deepen our party arrangement and party politics in Nigeria, is driven and anchored on grievances and far more.

“Why is it that whenever it is the turn of the South to bring a candidate, those from the North must do it by hook or by crook to participate? When it is the turn of the North, they are all left alone to it. Nobody from the South challenges them. Nobody of worth or substance, let me use the word, from the South challenges them.

“People respect that, but the people from the North don’t respect it. Why? And all the gladiators from the North are the same ethnic group. What is the issue? In this modern 21st century, with all levels of education and exposure, so what is the issue?

“Imagine Buhari ruled for eight years. Nobody of worth challenged him from the South. It was the turn of the South, now Atiku came, Kwankwaso came and things like that. So, I think our problem has to do with some sense, some motivation that is not put on the table. Otherwise, I have no problem with a coalition.

“They can come together under the same party, but when they keep jumping ship from one party to the other, then their motivation is not noble. And their desperation is unlikely to keep them together. That is what I think about this coalition movement.”

Akuns recalled how Atiku had led the mass defection from PDP to the APC ahead of the 2015 elections, arguing that it was time for power to return to the North following President Goodluck Jonathan’s completion of what would have been President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s tenure.

He said, “Atiku himself has been the most unstable party man from 1999 to date. If you really want to call a spade by its name, he has done a lot more harm to every party he has joined than he has built the party.”

“From PDP to ACN, back to PDP, to APC, back to PDP, and even against the rule of the game. I am a PDP man. I know the constitution. What it says about presidential ticket and the party chairman—they have to alternate. You can’t take the two from the same zone of North and South divide. These are the issues,” he added.