“Honesty or Party Betrayal?” Top Chieftain Sowunmi Speaks on Wike’s Support for Tinubu Ahead of 2027
- Segun Sowunmi, PDP chieftain, has described discussions about zoning the party’s presidential ticket for the 2027 elections as premature
- In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, Sowunmi urged the PDP to focus on settling its internal crisis and maintained that issues like vote buying should take precedence over zoning debates
- Amid PDP's challenges, Sowunmi defended Nyesom Wike’s support for President Tinubu’s re-election and maintained that the party’s disciplinary committee should decide Wike's expulsion
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Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
Segun Sowunmi, a top chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has voiced concerns about the zoning of the party's presidential ticket.
Source: Facebook
Ahead of the 2027 general election, he insisted that the conversation around zoning where the next president will come is "a bit premature".
In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng on Sunday, January 19, Sowunmi explained what political parties should focus on before 2027.
He told Legit.ng:
"Political parties don't do zoning, taking into consideration other political parties. Every political party must look at its circumstances, look at its numbers, look at its own design and where it will win. Look for a pathway for itself, set up the conversation and a committee to look at all of this seriously and then come with its zoning. It is too early to talk about zoning, the government in charge has not done two years. Zoning of where the president will come from next is a bit premature."
What Sowunmi said about Tinubu's re-election
Meanwhile, the trending development shaping conversations in recent times is the debate about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's re-election and the internal crisis rocking the PDP.
The PDP's crisis has worsened amid early moves by the northern elites to re-strategise and present a major contender against Tinubu following his reform policies that have thrown Nigerians into hardship and economic crisis.
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state even said the north would show its “true colours to President Tinubu over the controversial tax reform bills.
Reacting, Segun Sowunmi was of the view that "Anybody can beat anybody," but the people will decide the winner of the 2027 presidency.
Speaking on whether the PDP has what it takes to defeat the APC and Tinubu in 2027, Sownumi said:
"At every point in time, the PDP was a party that won election back to back. From 1999, the PDP was a party that handed power to a democratically elected opposition party in APC. So, once PDP says it is going to be on the ballot, it is up to the Nigerian citizen to decide which of the candidate can win.
"President Tinubu is just one man, he is a president and has some advantage but the people that make decision from election is beyond that. They are parties involved. There are polling units involved. Anybody can beat anybody. You have to look at it more pragmatically. There is no assumption that tells you that everybody in the country is satisfied now. So if they are not satisfied, why do you think they don't have the capacity to say no, they don't want.
"So, the political instability are temporary phase that can be managed. There is no law that says if PDP cannot win the next election, another party cannot win it. Any party can win election, it depends on how well they plan. There is no law that also says Presidenet Tinubu cannot be re-elected.
Source: Twitter
"The point is, less than two years into an administration, we cannot be fixated into the next election, we must be more interested in how our people are behaving with democracy, how they are not turning up enough, we must be interested in vote buying and vote selling, we must be interested in all of the issues that make the people speak to their country, the development they want in their country."
Should Wike be expelled? Sowunmi defends Tinubu's minister
Amid the worsening crisis rocking the PDP, Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said he will support President Tinubu's re-election bid in 2027.
However, Sowunimi insisted that Wike should be commended for being honest.
He alleged that some PDP chieftains work against the party and still claim to be fighting for its interest.
He, however, maintained that the decision to expel Wike or allow him to remain a PDP chieftain lies with the party's disciplinary committee and the National Working Committee (NWC).
Segun Sowunimi stated thus:
"I don't know what the PDP can or could not do to anybody. It is to his credit that he is honest and straightforward. It is his right to say this is who he is going to support. He does not owe the party, it is up to the party to make sure they plan their own election having that information at the back of their mind. After all, while he was even a sitting governor, he said he was not supporting the party and the presidential candidate.
"Whatever governor Wike says, it is good that he is honest, upfront and straightforward. It is his right to choose who he wants to vote for. Wike is not like the people who will say one thing and do another. He is honest enough to say this is what he is thinking, others will just do anti-party, they will pretend they are with the party, then go and do something else.
"The responsibility lies with the disciplinary committee and the NWC and I don't have the powers to tell them do this or do that. They should know whether laws have been broken or the institution of the party has been breached.
"The talk about the 2027 election is distracting even to the ruling party at the state level and the national level."
Is it too early to discuss 2027 elections?
Speaking further, Segun Sowunmi noted that the conversation about his interest in the 2027 election, should not be the key focus.
He noted that it is distracting to be discussing Dapo Abiodun's successor in Ogun state.
Ahead of 2027, Sowunmi said:
"I don't believe that the next election is next month. It is distracting to start such conversation. Let the governor be allowed to do his best and at the right time, we will start the conversation of who will be the successor.
"The same rule I want us to apply for the presidency, it is the same rule I want us to apply for the state and at the right time, may God Almighty inspire us and choose the best for us.
"Don't forget, election are very expensive because clearly there are people that want to be purchased and don't want to vote."
El-Rufai's meeting sparks speculations about alliances
Source: Facebook
Legit.ng recalled that ahead of the 2027 general elections, Showunmi, convener of the “National Opposition Movement”, revealed that some top politicians met.
According to Showunmi, the meeting was at the residence of Shehu Gabam, the national chairman of the SDP.
Hamza Al-Mustapha, a retired Nigerian Army major and ex-presidential aspirant who served as chief security officer to former head of state General Sani Abacha, was at the meeting. Former governor El-Rufai was also present.
However, Sowunmi described his meeting with El-Rufai and other top political bigwigs as a friendly meeting.
He told Legit.ng:
"We were coming together as concerned Nigerians to talk about the health and the stability of this democracy."
Sowunmi shares how Wike’s appointment fuelled PDP’s crisis
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Segun Sowunmi blamed President Tinubu for his role in the PDP’s internal crisis.
In a trending interview, Sowunmi faulted Nyesom Wike's appointment as FCT minister.
He said: “He has no business appointing our member into his cabinet without talking to us.”
Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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Source: Legit.ng
