*Dump Anyanwu, Ude-Okoye, appoint Acting Secretary
*Atiku Insists, Continues Coalition Talks
*They May Be Working For Tinubu, Says Momodu
*Sowunmi: Replica Of 2015 Coalition Cannot Defeat APC
*’Atiku, El-Rufai Will Lose Even If They Merge With Turji, Shekau’
GOVERNORS elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have ruled out the party’s involvement in any coalition or merger ahead of the 2027 elections, thereby throwing a spanner in the wheel of coalition and merger talks and consultations by its presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar.
Instead, the governors stated that any political party or individual seeking a bigger platform was free to join the PDP.
Recall that on March 20, Atiku, in company with former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, among others, announced at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, plans for an opposition coalition against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
But rising from a meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the PDP governors said on: “The nationwide speculations about a possible merger of political parties, groups and/or associations, the Forum resolved that the PDP will not join any coalition or merger.
“However, the PDP, as a major opposition party, welcomes any party, persons or groups that are willing to join it with a view to wrestling power and enthroning good leadership in 2027.”
They proposed May 27 for the party’s severally postponed National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and National Convention for August.
The governors dumped both Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Monday Ude-Okoye claims to the position of National Secretary, which was zoned to the Southeast, following the Supreme Court judgment on the matter, and instead nominated Deputy National Secretary, Setonji Koshedo, from Lagos State, to act as National Secretary, while urging the Southeast to present a candidate for the position.
According to the communique read by the Forum’s Chairman and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed: “The Forum reasserts our collective determination to avert a rape of our constitutional democracy; hence the decision of approaching the Supreme Court to give a clear-cut verdict on the interpretation of the provisions of the law on the declaration of State of Emergency in any state.
“The Forum restates its solidarity with His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, on the ordeal into which his state and people are being plunged by the declaration of a state of emergency. And we reiterate our commitment to stand with him till the end.
“The Forum finds alarming the worsening security situation in the country, as evidenced in parts of the country, especially Borno, Plateau, Katsina and Edo States.
“The Forum calls for review and reordering of priorities and strategies including adopting a bottom-up template that guarantees the sub-nationals to constitute an effective line of defence against security breaches.
“While raising the concerns above, we condemn the recent attacks in Plateau State and commiserate with the government and people of the state especially those who lost their lives and properties during this unfortunate mishap.
“The Forum resolves that working in conjunction with the National Working Committee (NWC) and other relevant organs of the party, to hold a NEC Meeting on the 27th of May, 2025; constitute a Zoning Committee that will address all issues relating to the zoning of party offices and hold an early convention in August 2025, precisely on the 28th, 29th and 30th in the ancient city of Kano.
“The Forum equally recommends the constitution of the Zoning and National Convention Committees for ratification by the NWC and NEC as follows:
Zoning Committee- Gov. Douye Diri, Chairman; Gov. Dauda Lawal, Vice Chairman, and Gov. Caleb Mutfwang, Secretary, while the National Convention Committee has Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri as Chairman; Gov. Ademola Adeleke as Vice Chairman and Gov. Peter Mbah as Secretary.”
The meeting was attended by Mohammed; Adeleke (Osun); Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (Adamawa); Seyi Makinde (Oyo); Diri (Bayelsa); Mbah (Enugu); Lawal (Zamfara); Agbu Kefas (Taraba); Akon Eyakenyi (Deputy Governor, Akwa Ibom); and Monday Onyeme (Deputy Governor, Delta).
Despite the governors position, Atiku has insisted that a coalition remains the only way to oust President Bola Tinubu in the coming elections.
The former vice president, who has contested every presidential election since 2007 and still with eyes on the presidency in 2027, said the governors’ position only highlighted the need for broader consultation.
His media aide, Paul Ibe, stated: “The governors are key stakeholders of any party, not just the PDP. They are important, as are all other stakeholders, including ordinary Nigerians. The coalition is a pan-Nigerian movement and project.
“At the start of this journey, we conducted internal polling, which indicated that this was the path we should take to redeem Nigeria and reclaim it from these marauders.
“Therefore, it was no coincidence that we are travelling this route. I believe it’s still early days, and there will be alignments and realignments. I believe that when the governors, or some of them, realise that this is a project with its own momentum and a time that has come, they will align properly.
“This is not a setback; it calls for dialogue. It is not a setback at all. The project continues. As I mentioned, this is a pan-Nigerian movement, a Nigerian project with Nigerians at its heart. It’s difficult to derail something when the people have taken ownership of it.
“That doesn’t diminish the importance of the governors; they are still very important, but Nigerians are also critical, and this project means a great deal to them in their quest to save their country.”
In his own reaction, a chieftain of the party and veteran journalist, Dele Momodu, while faulting the governors’ opposition to coalition or merger, said the PDP governors might be working in favour of Tinubu’s administration.
Momodu, speaking on a television programme, said: “Opposition leaders are very determined to work together this time around. The truth of the matter is that Atiku cannot do it alone, Peter Obi cannot do it alone, and Kwankwaso cannot do it alone, and whosoever wants to run.
“They have to find a way to pay the APC back in its own coin. I was one of those who supported APC in 2014 and 2015, they are going to pay them back in their own coin by at least trying to get a chunk of all the parties, including APC to come together.
“If our (PDP) governors are saying, ‘Oh, we don’t go into coalitions,’ it means you are probably working for a Tinubu presidency.
“People must learn from history, and I’m a good student of political history. The only way Lagos State under Tinubu survived blistering attack from Obasanjo’s government was because they were able to stand alone, a bully only respects a bully.
“But all of us are already behaving like chicken, people panic because of Tinubu, oh they are going to use EFCC, they are going to arrest me.
“The thing is that we all like to read about Mandela in South Africa, the Mau Mau struggle, even in Nigeria, we had the nationalists who struggled for our independence, but everybody suddenly feels power can be offered to you on a platter.
“But I can tell you that any governor, senator or House member who may be tempted to jump ship, may jump into the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. That is why some of us are appealing to people that this thing is doable if they agree to work together.”
Another chieftain of the party, Segun Sowunmi, believed a replica of the 2013 coalition that gave rise to the APC to defeat the PDP in 2015 would not work to defeat Tinubu and the APC in 2027, saying the dynamics of 2015 when the APC coalition unseated President Goodluck Jonathan are different.
Sowunmi told The Punch that unlike what happened in 2013, no political party at the moment would be willing to subsume its name and identity under a coalition.
According to him: “People are unnecessarily assuming that a direct replica of what happened in 2015 is what will unseat the APC. I hold the very strong and well-considered view that the times are different.
“It is so different from what happened in 2015 that no one interested in politics should be blind-sighted by the fact that there is no political party in Nigeria today that is going to happily deregister itself for the purpose of any coalition.
“The PDP is going to go into an election welcoming anybody who wants to join our platform as a member of our party, opening ourselves up to receive as many great Nigerian people as possible.
“Certainly, the PDP, a party that was registered in 1998 and has a lot of governors, will never go down because of the ambition of anybody.
“I also doubt that the Labour Party (LP) will be willing to go that route too. I also do not know whether the NNPP will be willing to go that route with anybody.”
He disagreed with the notion that with different political heavyweights combining forces, they would amass more votes than the APC, saying: “Their numbers may be independently big, but they are also mutually exclusive in certain considerations.
“Those who will give Segum numbers may not give Raheem the numbers. Those who will give Raheem may not give Segun. To combine Segun and Raheem, you cannot strictly say that Rameem and Segun will get the same numbers they got individually.”
He feared that the old politicians planning a coalition would have a hard time convincing Nigerians to vote for them, because they are not a new set of people that Nigerians do not know, adding: “Nigerians are going to be forced to review their previous activities, especially when they are not new people that are unknown.
“So, if the same of same now package themselves as new people, I can guarantee you that they may not, with due respect, succeed.
“Will the APC members be sleeping on the election day while these people, we don’t know the name they are going to call their party, just get all the votes? They will end up just being one more party.
“Whatever they cannot do with the PDP, LP, NNPP, APGA, AA, SDP, what are they then going to do with this one?
“Another area I see challenge, knowing them, is that they are going to be planning to deceive one another, because each of them has presidential ambition.
“When you drag them into a coalition of some sort, who is then going to be the presidential candidate? Who is going to be the vice?”
Sarcastically speaking, an APC chieftain, Ayekooto Akindele, said even if Atiku and El-Rufai merge with terrorists, such as Abubakar Shekau and Bello Turji, they would still lose in 2027, cautioning that both politicians should never be allowed near the corridors of power when it rotates back to the North.
Akindele posted on his Facebook page: “By the time power will shift to the North in 2031, it will be in hand of a Pan-Nigerian politician. People like Atiku, El-Rufai must never come near power again.
“If Atiku and El-Rufai like, let them merge with Shekau and Turji, they will lose abysmally in 2027.”
