Despite the recent push by a coalition of opposition forces led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to mobilise against President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Segun Sowunmi, has insisted that the party will not be pressured into what he described as a nebulous coalition.
Sowunmi, who is also the convener of The Alternative, made this known during an interview on TVC, where he maintained that any attempt to bring political parties together must be done with clarity, mutual respect, and recognition of individual party ideologies and structures.
He said: “I think that anyone who will drive the type of idea of a coalition must separate individuals from parties.”
He further explained: “Individuals have the right, the reason, and the privilege to desire to come together on an individual basis.
“For any political party, of the 18 registered political parties in this country, there is not one of them who will not say ‘What is the basis of this coming together?’ ‘How do we make it happen?’ ‘What are the roles assigned?’ ‘Which is the vehicle?’
“And with due respect, the Peoples Democratic Party is one of the legacy parties in Nigeria, founded in 1998 by great men who envisioned that a political party must have some underpinnings that drive it.
“One of the underpinnings that drive the PDP as envisioned is that it will be a pan-Nigerian party, it will be a party that recognises the unique diversity in our country and respects the principles of zoning.
“It will be a right-of-centre party, which means it will be pro-business, pro-private sector, it will be a party that has strong welfarist concepts – that’s why you see us do all the things we have done.
“Now, if you are going to drag the PDP into this kind of conversation, they must first of all be informed as to why.”
Sowunmi also clarified that the recent stance taken by PDP governors was not a total dismissal of the coalition movement, but rather a caution to ensure that the party is not coerced into alliances without clearly defined frameworks.
“And so, I think what the governors have done is not necessarily to say that conversation can’t happen the way it is happening, but it is to make everybody in the country clear about the fact that no one is going to hoodwink, browbeat, force the PDP into an arrangement that they are not clear about.”
Questioning the practicality of the coalition drive, Sowunmi queried whether the PDP is expected to dissolve itself into parties with less political presence and capacity.
“Do they have to de-register their party? Are they going to empty the party into a smaller one?” he asked.
“They have about 13 governors minus the one that is suspended now. They have enough senators, they have enough House of Reps members. Are those supposed to now suddenly start milling into a party that has absolutely nothing to offer in terms of existing leadership structures?
“I am sure at some point in time, Atiku Abubakar, who is trying to say opposition should come together, would still have to go and meet the party and explain to them,” he said.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker representing Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Clement Jimbo, dismissed the opposition coalition led by Atiku Abubakar as an exercise in futility, describing it as “the last kick of a dead horse.”
Speaking with Vanguard, Jimbo said: “I will describe their movement or their strategy as the last kick of a dead horse. If Alhaji Atiku Abubakar still desires to be the president of Nigeria, he should kindly wait until Southern Nigeria has completed its eight years. So, he cannot keep distorting facts by thinking that power should go to the North when the South is yet to finish its term. It is very clear. So, I consider it as the last kick of a dead horse.
“There is nothing that will come out of it because it is predicated on selfishness, not on equity, not on justice.”
The lawmaker further declared that the PDP stands little to no chance in the 2027 general elections due to the deep divisions within the party.
“The PDP does not stand a chance because it is completely factionalized,” he stated.
