A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has dismissed the possibility of a 2013-style political coalition successfully unseating President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
Speaking in an interview with The PUNCH, Sowunmi argued that the circumstances that led to the formation of the APC and its victory over the PDP in 2015 are no longer present. He stated that political parties today are unlikely to dissolve their identities to form a single coalition like they did in the past.
“People are wrongly assuming that simply replicating the 2015 model will unseat the APC,” Sowunmi said. “Things are different now. No political party is going to willingly give up its identity for the sake of a coalition. The PDP, which has been around since 1998 and still controls several states, will not dissolve itself for anyone’s ambition. I doubt the Labour Party or NNPP would either.”
He also challenged the belief that merging various political forces would automatically translate to electoral success.
“Just because political heavyweights join forces doesn’t mean their support bases will align,” he explained. “The supporters of one candidate might not back another just because they’re in the same alliance. You can’t assume their individual numbers will simply add up.”
Sowunmi further noted that many of the political figures rumored to be part of this proposed coalition are already well-known to Nigerians, which could work against them.
“If the same familiar faces try to present themselves as something new, voters will scrutinize their past. They’re not unknown quantities. If they couldn’t achieve their goals through PDP, LP, NNPP, APGA, or SDP, how would forming a new group suddenly change that?”
He also raised concerns about internal conflicts within such a coalition, especially over leadership positions.
“Each of them harbors presidential ambitions,” Sowunmi added. “So who becomes the presidential candidate? Who settles for vice? These are the real issues, and they could end up deceiving each other more than anyone else.”