By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta

The Convener of The Alternative Movement, Otunba Segun Showunmi has said that the coalition formed with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 will fail, stressing that the coalition was built with inordinate ambition.

Showunmi, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, described the African Democratic Congress, ADC, as a coalition of commotion, confusion, corruption and mismanagement.

Showunmi, who stated these on Thursday while speaking with journalists at the Southwest town hall meeting of The Alternative Movement, held in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, stated that the coalition lack the capacity to unseat Tinubu in 2027.

While calling on Nigerians not give them any attention, the PDP leader declared that Nigerians should not forget the the country operates rotational presidency.

He said, “Nigeria operates rotational presidency. When the pendulum of power swings to the north for eight years, it comes back to the south for another eight years”.

He disclosed that he has never been convinced of how the new ADC coalition being led by the former Senate President, David Mark and former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola could change the order in 2027.

Showunmi said, “can’t you see the kind of people calling themselves coalition now? People who at every election season, it must be about them and the Quran and the Bible is very clear. God will not give you what he will not give you and man will not give you what God has not given you”.

“You cannot be using your inordinate ambition to disturb the country up and down. The ADC as a party has been there for some time, some of our people have been there .

“Yet, today they have left their own party and rushed into another party and if they had gone in there quietly like decent people, maybe one would have respected them, but they are coming in with their destructive attitude which they had used to destroy their former parties”.

“They are just puffing and behaving as if the party are without people before they joined, who will follow these people? In any case, where is the evidence of the development that they have done in all the places they had been given responsibilities?”

He added, “rather than those forming coalition to stay in their respective parties and fix whatever the challenges may be, they have decided to embark on a merry-go-round that will fetch them nothing in 2027 elections”.

He explained that “these people should also not forget that “we run this country on a pendulum, when power goes to the North and stays eight years, it comes back to the South and stay eight years as well”.

“We don’t believe that a Yoruba man should be doing four years stretch and another Yoruba man will also be teaming up with some group for the other part of the country to do twelve years. And if they are looking for someone in the opposition who can make a dent, I can easily tell them but certainly not this coalition”.

He added that in as much as he would not condone any form of misgovernance, but the administration of President Tinubu just clocked two years and that he would not stand by and allow some gang up that will not allow the president work with peace of mind.

Showunmi said, “the administration of President Bola Tinubu has just clocked two years. I don’t have time to pamper people when I needed to criticize. I do without hesitation but I will also not stand by and be interested in some people or system that will not allow leaders to have the peace of mind to work.

“He still have two more years to spend, by third year, may be we shall take our decision but in the meantime, we may not know who can defeat him, but we know that these ones (the coalition) can’t do anything”.

Showunmi also hinted his followers to give him three months to also tour the the 36 states after which he might come back to announce their next line of move politically.

He disclosed that the alternative is a movement that is more interested in re-orientating Nigerians on how they must begin to cultivate positive attitude towards political participation, particularly the electoral process.

Showunmi, while expressing concern over the diminishing role of civic responsibility among Nigerians, said the ratio of voters who carried out their civic duties on election day is disproportionate to the number of registered voters in the database, urging Nigerians to wake up to their responsibilities.

“We have more than 12 million registered voters, but in the last election, the man who became president won with only a little bit above eight million votes. Where are the others on the day of their civic responsibility?”

The PDP leader said, “we are saying that our people must shun voters apathy, they must always come out to vote during election, they must also shun the terrible attitude of vote buying, it is evil and will never allow us to have good governance.

“We are also saying that we must love one another as a nation, the alternative is a platform for everyone. It is about seeking what is good, a new order for a country that we can all be proud of”.

The National Publicity of the Labour Party, Comrade Abayomi Arabambi while speaking at the programme described the arrowheads of the coalition as failed leaders, who are only trying to recycle themselves.

Arabambi said that the current administration of President Tinubu inherited an economy on life support, a security architecture in tatters, and infrastructure crumbling under decades of neglect.

He stated that while “President Tinubu is working tirelessly to stabilise the patient, the very physicians who poisoned the nation now return with new prescriptions saying that this could only happen in Nigeria”.

Arabambi said that “it is not that The Alternative Movement is opposed to coalition politics, but such coalition must be built with genuine progressive alliances that can move the nation forward and not this one being driven by failures”.

“Coalition built with genuine progressive alliances can be powerful vehicles for change. What we reject – what every sane Nigerian must reject – is the repackaging of certified failures as reformers.

“Many of them form coalitions not out of love for Nigeria, but out of the fear of irrelevance. They preach unity after years of fuelling division,” he said.