2027: Why Merger Will Not Work Against APC, Influential PDP Chieftain Explains
- Hon. Segun Showunmi has boasted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) can defeat President Bola Tinubu and his party without a merger
- The PDP chieftain stated that the coalition method used by the ruling party in 2015 might not work for the opposition in 2027
- The former governorship candidate in Ogun state said PDP only needs to reform the party internally, and it would defeat the ruling party comfortably
Legit.ng journalist Segun Adeyemi has over 9 years of experience covering political events, civil societies, courts, and metro
A former governorship candidate in Ogun State and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Segun Showunmi, has given reasons why a coalition party cannot work in 2027 against the All Progressives Congress.
In a recent interview published by Punch on Friday, January 19, the PDP chieftain stated that the strategy the APC successfully used to unseat the PDP in 2015 does not automatically imply that it would work for the opposition in 2027.
Source: Twitter
He said:
"They think they can use what their enemies used in beating them to also defeat them. When their enemies wanted to beat them, science dictated a merger would work out fine and that was done with President Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria and Buhari’s Congress for Progressives Change.
"Some PDP members also left to join this merger, hurting themselves because many of them are back in the party now."
"Thinkers of this policy are lazy" - Segun Showunmi
The PDP chieftain described the merger's initiators as lazy rather than thinking out of the box and being creative enough to devise strategic measures to unseat the APC.
Hon Showunmi stated that the political parties being tipped for this merger all have contenders who also want to be president, and it would be difficult to talk them out of their ambition.
He said:
"They are going to spend the next 20 years struggling and fighting themselves on who is going to be President because all of them want to be President at the same time."
2027: "APC product of failed merger" - Moshood Isah
Corroborating the assertions of the PDP chieftain, public affairs and political analyst, Moshood Isah told Legit.ng that a merger in 2027 is a failed mission in the waiting.
He stated that the lack of unified political intention poses a massive threat to any form of coalition.
Isah, who is also an experienced election observer, said the shortcomings of the APC in the last eight years will not make Nigerians buy the idea of a merger as the ruling party is also a product of one.
He said:
"Nigerians have seen a handful of attempts by the political class to either merge or build a coalition, but the majority have failed due to feeble structure or selfish ambition. The reason why a lot of mergers failed in Nigeria is due to a lack of unified intentions.
"Though the current ruling All Progressive Congress is a product of a merger of Congress for Progressive Change and Action Congress of Nigeria, it has not been to the benefit of the masses as we've seen in the last eight years. The news about the merger doesn't necessarily excite Nigerians because it has hardly been about the masses."
Showunmi confirms interest in PDP chairmanship seat
Meanwhile, Hon Showunmi, who confirmed his interest in the chairmanship seat of the PDP, urged that they must come together, resolve their difference and reform the party inwardly to stand a chance to beat the APC without merging with any other political party.
He said:
"We lost an election, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win again once we look inward and correct our mistakes. People must see what we are offering and doing differently."
Showunmi visits Buhari in Daura
In another report, Hon Showunmi was pictured with ex-President Muhammadu Buhari at his residence in Daura.
In the viral photo shared by the PDP chieftain himself, it was gathered that he paid a courtesy visit to the ex-president's residence in Daura, Katsina state.
However, his visit did not sit well with supporters of the PDP, who slammed him and alleged that he was planning to defect.
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Source: Legit.ng
