.. . Your coalition has crumbled, Onanuga tells Atiku, El-Rufai, others
… We will release our structure and strategy soon- coalition spokesman
Two senior advisors to the president, Bayo Onanuga and Tunde Rahman, have said that the proposed coalition against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has collapsed even before it took off, and along with it, the political ambitions of the president’s main political challenger, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Onanuga, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Tinubu, said the proposed coalition is crumbling, and those meant to populate it are defecting daily to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
In a post on X, Onanuga criticized the coalition efforts led by Atiku, former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.
“Atiku’s political future looks bleak. The coalition that he, El Rufai, Babachir, and new member Baba-Ahmed are cobbling together has disintegrated.
“Potential allies, including (Atiku’s) former running mate Ifeanyi Okowa and defunct CPC members, are giving his leprous group a wide berth. Atiku is a loser again,” Onanuga stated.
Onanuga’s comments followed a similar post by another presidential aide, Tunde Rahman.
Rahman who is the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Special Duties to Tinubu, noted that PDP’s internal crisis has deepened with the defection of former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and incumbent Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to the APC.
Rahman described the development as “the biggest shocker ever” for Atiku, whose 2023 presidential bid seems to have been cut short.
But coalition spokesman and former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the APC, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Abuja, accused the APC of plotting to foist a one-party state on Nigerians.
He said that the opposition is however not perturbed.
“We neither perturbed nor distracted”, he said, explaining that the coalition’s vision, mission and ideals are alive.
He accused the ruling party of plotting to harvest governors of the opposition into its fold, saying that “on the side of the government and APC, they are jubilating. All that one can say is that look, the beauty of democracy is about competition. The whole initiative to begin to negotiate the coalition is to ensure that in 2027, Nigerians are presented with options.
“We have gone far, and what has happened in terms of some governors and some leaders moving into APC is not going to distract us at all. Not long from now, the full details of the coalition will be unveiled to Nigerians. And the structure and strategy in terms of how the election will be contested will be clarified.
Meanwhile, a a former member of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Yusuf, has advised former Vice President, Atiku to jettison his ambition to pick the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket in the 2027 election, and allow the party to return to its original zoning formula, which he says would promote peace within the party.
Yusuf, who stated this on Channels Televisions Sunrise Daily programme, attributed the crisis within the PDP to several factors, including the failure of some party leaders to prioritise the unity of the PDP over their personal political ambitions.
Atiku contested as the PDP’s presidential candidate in the last two election cycles, but Yusuf believes it is time for him to step aside and allow the party to return to its original zoning formula, which he says would promote peace within the party.
“If I have my way, I will advise former Vice President Atiku, leave PDP ticket, let it go to the South even if we don’t win presidential election, we would have been seen as going back to our original modus operandi where party positions are zoned,” Yusuf said.
“Look at the South-South and the South-East who have been reasonably the bedrock of the PDP, if you just come( from the north) and pick the ticket, people will start losing hope because the desire of everybody is to get to the peak of their career.
“If they now realise that because of the number that comes from one particular section in the primary election they cannot get the ticket, they get frustrated.”
The former ruling party has been grappling with internal crises since the 2023 general election, with several top members—including governors and National Assembly members—defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The latest to jump ship are the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori; his deputy, Monday Onyeme; his predecessor, and Atiku’s former running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, and other top PDP members in the state. They defected to the APC on Wednesday.
Yusuf, who represented the Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, described the crisis in the PDP as self-inflicted. He accused the party’s governors of deliberately allowing the situation to fester in order to justify their defection to other political platforms.