2027: PDP won’t be forced into coalition – Sowunmi

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Segun Sowunmi, has insisted that the party will not be forced into a nebulous coalition.

Speaking in an interview with TVC, Sowunmi, the convener of The Alternative, said while individuals are free to align politically, political parties like the PDP must be approached with clarity and respect for their ideology and structure.

His words: “I think that anyone who will drive the type of idea of a coalition must separate individuals from parties.

He added that “Individuals have the right, the reason, and the privilege to desire to come together on an individual basis. For any political party, of the 18 registered political parties in this country, there is not one of them who will not say ‘What is the basis of this coming together?’ ‘How do we make it happen?’ ‘What are the roles assigned?’ ‘Which is the vehicle?’

“And with due respect, the Peoples Democratic Party is one of the legacy parties in Nigeria, founded in 1998 by great men who envisioned that a political party must have some underpinnings that drive it. One of the underpinnings that drive the PDP as envisioned is that it will be a pan-Nigerian party, it will be a party that recognises the unique diversity in our country and respects the principles of zoning. It will be a right-of-centre party, which means it will be pro-business, pro-private sector, it will be a party that has strong welfarist concepts – that’s why you see us do all the things we have done. Now, if you are going to drag the PDP into this kind of conversation, they must first of all be informed as to why,” he added.

“And so, I think what the governors have done is not necessarily to say that conversation can’t happen the way it is happening, but it is to make everybody in the country clear about the fact that no one is going to hoodwink, browbeat, force the PDP into an arrangement that they are not clear about”, Sowunmi added.

Sowunmi asked whether the PDP is expected to dissolve or surrender its political machinery to parties with no structures.

“Do they have to de-register their party? Are they going to empty the party into a smaller one?” he queried.