2027: Why Atiku-led ADC coalition can’t defeat Tinubu — Ex-Reps member

A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, has asserted that the new coalition being formed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other prominent opposition figures lacks the capacity to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The former Ekiti State Commissioner for Public Utilities said progressive Nigerians—including both the masses and the elite—are solidly behind the reforms being championed by President Tinubu to rejuvenate the economy.

Faparusi made these remarks in response to the growing opposition to Tinubu’s potential re-election bid in 2027, particularly the coalition of forces being spearheaded by former VP Atiku, former Governor Nasir el-Rufai, and others.

Responding to the coalition—which he described as a smokescreen for political self-promotion and an attempt by its proponents to hijack power for personal aggrandizement—Faparusi maintained that the newly proposed party lacks the necessary structures to undertake such a massive task.

He acknowledged that Nigeria is in need of a viable opposition platform but argued that the only way the coalition could pose a real threat to Tinubu’s re-election is if the PDP were dissolved into the African Democratic Congress (ADC), similar to how the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and others merged to form the APC.

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“Anything short of that, Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the other proponents of this coalition are just daydreaming,” he asserted.

Faparusi described the coalition as a “huge joke” and mere shadow-chasing, saying it has only widened President Tinubu’s chances of re-election due to the self-serving image Nigerians have of the coalition’s promoters.

The former lawmaker lamented that the coalition’s primary agenda is to remove Tinubu from office rather than to work for the good of the country.

“I haven’t heard any of their leaders tell Nigerians what they would do better or how they plan to improve lives. It’s all about grabbing power—Nigerians won’t be fooled,” he added.

He expressed confidence that the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), under the leadership of Governor Biodun Oyebanji, will deliver 100% for President Tinubu—a feat he believes will be replicated in other APC-controlled states.

Faparusi noted that while the coalition may be modeled after the APC merger of 2013—spearheaded by President Tinubu, former President Muhammadu Buhari, and others—it is poorly executed compared to the strategic planning behind APC’s formation.

The APC chieftain urged the coalition’s proponents to abandon the notion that they will seize power in 2027, describing it as a far-fetched and unrealistic dream.

He added that the ongoing reforms by the APC at the federal level are beginning to yield results, citing the gradual decline in prices of food and fuel and the easing of Nigeria’s loan burden from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The new coalition and the formation of a new party to unseat Tinubu is a huge joke. In fact, it has only strengthened his re-election chances.

“With the raging divisions within the opposition, the PDP is no longer a threat—even if it reorganizes itself. Nor does the new party have the capacity to challenge the APC, which is solidly rooted across all 774 local government areas, 8,809 wards, and 176,974 polling units in the country.

“I know they are trying to replicate the APC coalition of 2013. But if you must copy, copy well.

“The APC formation was a masterstroke, midwifed by President Tinubu himself, with over 15 sitting governors—five of whom defected from the PDP. But what do ADC or ADA have to offer these tired and spent forces?

“They should prepare for a serious conquest, not just defeat, in 2027 at the hands of the ruling APC, which continues to enjoy mass defections from the same opposition now shamelessly boasting of taking over power without the capacity to do so,” he concluded.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE