2027: Coalition will not be distracted by gale of defections-Salihu Lukman
A former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, has said the opposition figures in the coalition would not be distracted by the gale of defections.
Lukman made this known in a statement on Thursday.
He said that the defection of Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa and several prominent leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party did not come as a surprise.
Lukman stated that aside from Okowa and Oborevwori, they are equally aware a few other governors are likely to jump ship.
He said, “First, I think anybody who says this is unexpected will only be deceiving himself. The signals have been there, that some governors are going to decamp. It’s not just one but some governors. The PDP is clearly a shadow of its own self. Although we acknowledge there are people and leaders in the PDP who are optimistic they can rescue the party. But if you remember when the governors issued a statement against the coalition, what was our response? Our response was that many of them are working for Asiwaju. Shortly after that, you saw the statement from Akwa Ibom, a,nd of course the Delta governor. It’s not only him. If you check the comments, there are many more being expected.
“On the one hand, people who genuinely worry for the country are expressing fear about a one-party state. On the other hand, the government and APC are jubilating. Look, the beauty of democracy is about competition.The whole initiative to begin to negotiate the coalition is to ensure that in 2027, Nigerians are presented with options.”
He also urged the PDP governors and leaders to reconsider their stance on not joining the coalition to form a merger ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“We have gone far and what has happened in terms of some governors and leaders moving into the APC is not going to distract us at all. Not long from now, the full detail of the coalition will be unveiled to Nigerians including the structure and the strategy in terms of how the election will be contested will be clarified. We want to correct all the mistakes and shortcomings from the Buhari administration to the Asiwaju administration. We want to restore the aspiration of Nigerians by producing leaders and greater country we will be proud of. That is what the coalition is all about. If anybody sees it differently, we are going to correct all of that.
“If we are talking of correcting the mistake of Buhari, correcting the mistake of Asiwaju, we don’t want to produce a government that will be seen as a sectional government. We want to produce a government that Nigerians will be proud of. We don’t want to produce another set of emperors,” he assured
