A former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has slammed the ongoing effort by ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and other political figures to form a new coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Sowore made the remarks in Abuja on Monday while speaking to journalists in separate interviews during the 50th birthday celebration of Lillian Adebayo, wife of a former Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo.
“I support coalitions and opposition. But not the kind that has people like El-Rufai. When the time comes, the moment they are offered what they want, they will go back to where they came from,” Sowore said.
He argued that many of the individuals involved in the planned coalition lack the credibility to champion real change.
“The APC was a coalition. Did you forget? The people who are asking to form another coalition were former APC members. In fact, most of them were Buhari cabinet members who are supposed to be in prison forming a union of prisoners, not coalitions,” he added.
His sentiments echoed those of Adebayo, who cautioned opposition leaders against hijacking the SDP as a platform for personal political battles against President Bola Tinubu.
“Of course, my party knows that I’m running for the 2027 election. As for the coalition, we are listening to them. We don’t want to be a getaway car for a conspiracy and robbery we did not plan. That’s not available,” Adebayo told journalists..
“If the coalition is for the Nigerian people, the SDP is available. But if it is just a crime centre for disappointed Tinubu followers, they should go back to him and resolve their differences there. Don’t come to SDP to borrow us for a fight we are not involved in,” he added.
Also speaking in a separate interview with journalists at the event, National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties CUPP, Peter Ameh, emphasized the need for any coalition to reflect the urgent concerns of Nigerians.
“For me, I think every gathering should have a little bit of discussion about how Nigeria should move forward because the current suffering that Nigerians are expressing under this incompetent governance system is something that we must halt.
“When Nigerians coalesce, it’s a coalition against government. There is hunger on the streets, Nigerians are depressed, and there are high tariffs on electricity and data and increases in everything. Since President Tinubu came into office, the cost of living has gone so high.
“It’s a reflection of what we are going through and a reflection of the pains Nigerians are facing. Going into 2027, as you have said, let me tell you very clearly, the coalition is good,” he stated.
