· FCT minister tackles Amaechi, urges president to release forensic report on NDDC

· Lagos governor condemns political distractions

· Governors’ defections won’t save Tinubu, APC from defeat, says Dalung

· Baba-Ahmed: Struggle for presidential ticket biggest test for ADC

· Babangida Aliyu, Niger PDP deny joining coalition

Chuks Okocha, Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja, Laleye Dipo in Minna.

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos have dismissed the new coalition aimed at unseating President Bola Tinubu in 2027, describing it as a futile and ill-conceived venture.

While Wike said the coalition forces are not a threat to Tinubu’s reelection bid in 2027, Sanwo-Olu emphatically said the bid to wrest power from the president in 2027 would fail.

However, a former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, yesterday declared that regardless of the defections by some State Governors to the APC, Tinubu and his party would be defeated in the 2027 elections. Speaking on national television, Dalung dismissed the potential impact of defections or appointments made by the president.

Also, yesterday, the PDP in Niger State said its members, including a member of the Board of Trustees of the party and former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, are not part of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), but remain in the PDP.

Wike made his remarks in an interview on a television programme monitored by THISDAY.

A group of politicians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; 2023 Labour Party(LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi; former Senate President, David Mark; former Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi; former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and his Osun State counterpart Rauf Aregbesola, are some of the leaders of the coalition.

Wike berated the Interim Chairman of African Democratic Party (ADC), David Mark, Atiku, Amaechi, and Tambuwal, among others, who defected from the PDP to join the fledging coalition.

He rubbished the claim that all the mentioned persons were PDP political heavyweights, saying none of them delivered their local government in 2023 to PDP, only to now abandon the party.

He challenged Mark’s credentials as a big weight of PDP, saying in his federal constituency, his daughter ran under APC and won, saying that was either a sign of weakness, or of a person not being on the ground, lack of sincerity and or playing a prank with PDP by Mark.

 “How can you be the leader of the party? A former Senate President for eight years from a federal constituency, and your daughter will run in another party and win the party that you are a leader for Christ’s sake!

“The point I’m making is you are a leader of the party, and your daughter ran against your own party under another party which is the party your opponent took-APC. And that party your daughter won. Now what I’m trying to say don’t give comfort to anybody. Let’s open everything as it should be now.

“And let’s tell ourselves the simple truth. How your daughter won in a federal constituency it is her responsibility. But it is either you played PDP wayo or you were not on the ground,” He said.

He rejected the allusion that Mark’s leadership of the coalition will pose a threat to President ‘s Tinubu’s reelection, saying he and co travelers were not a threat

“I want to tell Nigerians this. I have no problem. I never told you that as a government, we don’t have challenges. No, but Nigerians also know who these people are. Were they not people who were in government? Who is putting Nigerians to this suffering? And somebody came in, in just two years miracle will be performed? Nowhere is it done.”

Speaking further, he said, “Amaechi was a governor. He was a speaker for eight years, a governor for eight years. Was a minister for eight years. He never knew Nigerians were suffering.

“Remember. Ameachi was one of those who championed the removal of Jonathan. And he claimed and he said openly ‘we kicked him out.’ He said so and was proud of it. He wanted to be somewhere. Now his government came from 2015 to 2023. What happened to Nigerians? Nigerians were in heaven? Nigerians were not suffering? Everything was going normal?

“There were three bombs. From Abuja to Kaduna. They bombed the train. There was no train again from Abuja to Kaduna. For how many years? Was that under Tinubu government?

“He was the Minister of transportation and was Tinubu the President then? You were there for eight years, not eight months. Eight years! This man came just two years and you could not push us to correct what has happened. Right?

“This man took over just two years ago and you started a coalition 18 months ago, which means, Tinubu was in office for just six months and they started coalition?” Wike raged.

Wike insisted that Tinubu did not cause the hardship, maintaining that all his policies were aimed at trying to find a solution to challenges facing the country.

He again berated Ameachi for amassing debt for Nigerians through the railway project which had not benefited the country.

He also disputed Amaechi’s claim that his wife was an industrialist and exhorted Tinubu to release the forensic report on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), alleging that Amaechi’s wife was collecting N4 billion every month from the Commission to train Niger- Delta women.

“The forensic report of it is there, who killed it? It was Abubakar Malami, then Attorney General that killed it to protect whoever was concerned. Mr. President should help Nigerians. Please, release the forensic audit of the NDDC. He should please do us a favour, to release that document,” Wike said, with a threat to resign as the FCT Minister if the forensic audit was not released.

In the same vein, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday said advocates of a coalition to wrest power from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027 would fail.

According to Sanwo-Olu, Nigerians would support the President to ensure that the gains of his bold reforms are fully realised.

The Governor said the ADC was nothing but a mere distraction, which Tinubu should ignore.

“Nigerians will never go back to Egypt,” Sanwo-Olu told a group of journalists and politicians in Lagos. “The target is to distract the Commander-in-Chief and derail the social and economic gains that we can see and feel, but President Tinubu knows the game and will never fall for their bait,” the Governor said.

 In Sanwo-Olu’s view, Tinubu’s track record, achievements, and reform agenda are strong enough to stand above any narrative being crafted to derail his administration or his prospects for re-election.

He cited the stability in the foreign exchange market, students loan scheme, massive infrastructural projects, more revenue for states after the removal of fuel subsidy, tax reforms, increased oil production and the national minimum wage, among others.    

“President Tinubu is not only a builder of men but a visionary leader whose impact is evident across the nation,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Asked if the President and his All Progressives Congress (APC) were bothered about ADC and its promoters, Sanwo-Olu said: “No one should be concerned or distracted by what ADC or any other group is attempting to orchestrate. The truth is clear, the people can see the difference, and history is on his side.”

Presidential aides have described the coalition as “a gathering of desperados” and “internally displaced politicians”, who should be ignored.

“They have nothing but bitterness to offer; they are bound together by their illogical resentment against President Tinubu, not by any edifying ideology. They will run out of steam,” Sanwo-Oku said.

Asked what advice he had for the President, the Governor replied: “Simple. The President should stay the course. Millions of well-meaning Nigerians across party lines and compatriots, who understand what it takes to govern the most populous black nation on earth and revive a troubled economy, are behind him and trust his leadership.

“We know how far we’ve come under President Tinubu’s leadership. The focus should remain on delivering results, deepening reforms, and building a stronger Nigeria. Any attempt to shake that foundation will be futile,” he added.

Amid rhetoric from ADC and other opposition voices, Sanwo-Olu called for calm, discipline, and continued confidence in the President’s leadership.

Earlier yesterday, during the inauguration of the newly rehabilitated Aguma Palace, Radio Nigeria, New Market Road in Gwagwalada Area Council, Wike, threw a gauntlet at the coalition movement as people pained with the spate of projects in FCT.

He scorned the opposition for setting the stage for coalition against Tinubu 18 months ago, when he was barely six months in office.

“When will you stop deceiving Nigerians? Somebody came into office six months then you have started coalition that he may have not performed. But you had opportunity to be Senate President for eight years, you had an opportunity to be Speaker for four years, you had an opportunity to be Minister of Transportation for eight years. Yet you never made angry Nigerians to be happy but people stayed in office for six months, you started telling people how Nigerians are angry. 

“I have said, ‘everybody, show your scorecard’. When I was a Senate President, let me show my scorecard. How did I help the people of Benue State? How did I help the people of Otukpo? Is it by flying helicopter to Otukpo? 

“We are here for 16 days, we are showing our scorecard. This time is what we call, operation show your scorecard. God gave you opportunity to be in office to make Nigerians to be happy according to you, but you refused. Now you have left office you are angry, you are saying Nigerians are angry. No! You are angry you want to come back to power, you will not come back to power.

“In 2023 they said they would support one man whose business has been, ‘from 1999 I am in this party’. ‘2006, I am in this party’. ‘2014 I am in this party’. ‘2019, I am in the other party’. ‘Now 2025, I am in another coalition.’ Dem born you born coalition?!!” Wike raged.

He also threw a jibe at his predecessor as Governor of River State, Rotimi Amaechi, for making the country highly indebted through borrowing from China Eximbank as minister in 2019.

In particular, he accused Amaechi of inciting Nigerians to revolt, calling on him to spearhead the revolution with his children.

“Some people say, oh, Nigerians should come out. The man who is saying that I want you to lead it. You that is inciting Nigeria to revolt, I’m waiting for you in Rivers State. You will start there first, and you will lead it with your children. Not that their children will be in London, and then here you are saying, they should come out and revolt. If you can come with your children, you will face us first, then we will know that you really mean what you are saying.

“Mr. president, I want you to be proud. I want you to be proud. Because you have changed the narrative. It doesn’t matter, some people who will never be happy. If God has given them life, they say they won’t be happy, it’s their business. God has done his own. Since they say they won’t be happy, may they never be happy. Me, I’m always happy. Seeing them alone, I’m happy. So, let them not be happy. They will face us when the time comes,” Wike vowed.

Also, Wike chided the interim spokesperson of the ADC, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, describing him as one of the greedy individuals whose desperation for power brought the PDP to its present state. 

Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, stated this in a statement yesterday.

He berated Abdullahi and his co-travellers in what he called, “the coalition of confusion” describing them as people that were only hungry and angry to grab power for their selfish interest, rather than for the wellbeing of Nigerians.

Abdullahi, had on Thursday confessed that he and others were aggrieved that Wike allowed himself to be used to destroy the PDP, which he described as one of the most powerful political parties in Africa.

But in response, Olayinka wondered if it was because of Wike that Abdullahi left the PDP in 2014, or because he fell out with his mentor Senator Bukola Saraki, who groomed him from Special Assistant to a Minister.

 “As a minister in the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, why did Abdullahi leave the PDP for the APC then? Was it because the government he was part of failed and Nigerians were angry? 

“As National Publicity Secretary of the APC, did he leave the party in 2018 because of Wike or because he saw that his thirst for power could no longer be quenched in the party?

“When in 2019, Abdullahi ran unsuccessfully for nomination as the PDP governorship candidate in Kwara State, was it because Nigerians were angry? Even in 2023, that he got the PDP senatorial ticket, he still lost the election to his APC rival.

“If after serving as Special Assistant, Special Adviser and Commissioner in Kwara State and as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the people of Kwara State could still not trust Abdullahi enough with the PDP governorship ticket and later a Senatorial mandate, it simply means that he is a political liability and this reality he must face.

Dalung: Defections Won’t Save Tinubu, APC from Defeat in 2027

In the meantime, Dalung, yesterday, declared that regardless of the defections by some State Governors to the APC, Tinubu and his party would be defeated in the 2027 elections.

Speaking on national television, Dalung dismissed the potential impact of defections or appointments made by the president.

“Even if the 36 state governors defect to the APC and he appoints Seyi Tinubu as the chairman of INEC, and maybe he appoints his wife as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, and even if INEC becomes the last institution to decamp to the APC, they are going to be defeated in 2027,” Dalung said.

He accused the Tinubu-led administration of declaring war on the Nigerian people, citing worsening living conditions and what he described as state-backed injustice.

“Nigerians should buckle up for 2027 because the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has drawn the battle line. The government has weaponised poverty, hunger, and hardship and has popularised corruption, impunity, and injustice,” he stated.

Dalung urged Nigerians to align with the coalition, saying it was the only option “to confront the government in 2027.”

Babangida Aliyu, Niger PDP Deny ADC

Also, the PDP in Niger State yesterday, disowned the ADC, even as a member of the Board of Trustees of the party and former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, said he remains in the PDP.

A statement made available to THISDAY by the State chapter of the PDP titled, “No to Coalition,” signed by the State Chairman of the party, Mr. Tanko Beji, declared that, “For we in the PDP in Niger State, the coalition is not the answer for now, but anyone who feels strongly disposed to it can join as there is no force remaining.

“We are working to hold the Congress of the party very soon to elect new officials that will run the party in the State.”

He took a swipe at the way some politicians joined the ADC, describing their actions as “unconstitutional,” saying that, “The coalition is a new political Party that was formed by people from different political parties to actualise their political dreams.

“The new members like the chairman, Secretary and some other members had to resign their membership of the former political parties, That is the way it should go.”.

Beji a legal practitioner advised that, “anyone who feels strongly about the coalition and is ready to join should resign and join, as a member cannot belong to two political parties at a time”.

A statement by the Secretary Talba Media Crew Abdul Marafa, also stressed that Aliyu, “remains in the PDP”.

“We wish to categorically state and reaffirm that Babangida Aliyu, remains a committed and loyal member of the PDP, the party under which he served as Governor with distinction and which he continues to regard as the most credible platform to rescue and rebuild Nigeria” Marafa said.

He continued that: “At no point has Babangida Aliyu expressed or hinted at any interest in leaving the PDP. His political ideology rooted in democratic values, good governance, and national development aligns fully with the vision and mission of the PDP.

“We therefore urge party members, the general public, and the PDP leadership at all levels to disregard these rumours in their entirety” he said adding that: “the Chief Servant, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu remains unwavering in his commitment to the PDP, and we call on all genuine party faithful across the country to remain united, focused, and resolute.”

Baba-Ahmed: Struggle for Presidential Ticket Biggest Test for ADC

The Vice Presidential of the Labour party in the last general election Datti Baba-Ahmed has that the battle for a presidential candidate could pose a huge challenge for the ADC.

Speaking in an interview on Arise Television on Baba-Ahmed, said the new coalition platform would soon have its hands full ahead of the 2027 election.

Baba-Ahmed warned that the “excitement” trailing the ADC coalition should be managed and that citizens should not be “consumed” by it.

He added that he understands the excitement because Nigerians are currently “depressed” due to socio-economic factors.

Baba-Ahmed said the ADC coalition was similar to the political strategy deployed by Tinubu in the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.

He compared the ADC coalition to the alliance of political parties that formed the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The politician added that unlike the current coalition, the APC alliance perceived former President Muhammadu Buhari as the “anointed” presidential candidate long before the primary election.

“Don’t be consumed by the excitement — manage it. Right now, it is all about the excitement,” he said.

“Understandably so, Nigerians are depressed as they are oppressed. This excitement can easily consume everyone. Hold back and think critically.

“There are structural misgivings in the coalition as it is today. Buhari was the distant anointed from ab initio (referring to APC in 2015). The convener (Tinubu) supported him. He understands that when Buhari leaves, he will become (president).

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