Former Ekiti Governor Ayo Fayose dismissed the ongoing effort to award the political coalition in the 2027 election to allow President Bola Tinubu to replace the political coalition, saying the move was futile and lacked widespread support.
Speak on Channel TV Today’s politics Fayose, a prominent member of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), said the proposed coalition led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was “a dead horse from scratch.”
Several opposition figures have reportedly held strategic meetings in recent weeks to explore the possibility of challenging the united front of all the Progressive Conferences (APCs) in the next election cycle. Atiku Abubakar, who is the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 election, has been at the forefront of discussions, urging political actors to work across parties to wrestle from Tinubu and APC. However, the proposal seems almost unattractive, especially within Atiku’s own party.
Earlier this week, the governor elected on the PDP platform announced that they had not considered any merger or alliance with other political parties, effectively staying away from Atiku’s people fighting for a unified opposition. Fayose sees this position as a clear signal that the alliance lacks basic support, especially from key stakeholders in the PDP.
“Their alliance is a dead horse. Tell me a positive person or a respected Nigerian who expressed his voice in support of this alliance,” Fayes said in the program. “The actions and statements of the governor in Ibadan are to tell atiku: We are not with you, we have nowhere to go, we have no identity to ourselves. So the alliance is just the imagination of people who want to achieve this. Let me say to you, let me say to you, it is a waste of time.”
Fayose also argued that some opposition governors have a more comfortable leadership ability with Tinubu than Atiku’s candidacy. He insisted that any viable coalition negotiation could first resolve the internal crisis of the PDP, which was his ignorance of the party’s zoning principles.
“I am openly against Atiku, and it’s the second time I say that if Atiku comes again (to play the competition), I’ll fight him. Now it’s time to learn our lessons,” Fayose said. “It’s a turn for the Southerners after eight years of the Northerners, which might involve someone from the East, the Southwest or the South.”
Fayose said he blamed the crisis in the PDP on what he said was a violation of the party’s informal power-sharing arrangements, saying party members must respect unwritten agreements, such as partitions, if the PDP wants to regain political relevance. “Those who give or divide the powers have caused all these problems,” he said, insisting that the root cause of the party’s chaos is that it cannot fulfill internal consensus.
