2027: Why coalition talks will fail – Sowore

A former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has expressed concerns that the current coalition talks among opposition parties will ultimately fail and even boost President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

Sowore gave this warning on Tuesday when he played host to Channels Television’s Politics Today, adding that the efforts lack vision and ideology.

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According to Sowore, the efforts lack vision and ideology and are preventing a genuine coalition of the oppressed from emerging.

“It is what they [the coalition] are doing that will make it easy for him (Tinubu) to rerun and return to office. They are preventing the real, organic coalition of the oppressed from emerging. People are getting distracted — Nigerians actually think these guys are fighting for them,” Sowore affirmed.

Sowore described the current coalition talks as “hollow, lacking ideological substance and purpose”.

“I’m not a lone voice — the coalition is what is lonely. That’s why they can’t even hold meetings or find a party to join. Now they say they want to register a party — that’s loneliness. Any coalition without ideology is a lonely coalition. There’s no coalition without conviction, character, or integrity,” he added.

The coalition efforts, championed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have been met with skepticism from some quarters.

The PDP Governors’ Forum has distanced itself from the talks, citing concerns about undermining the party’s internal stability.

Labour Party’s Peter Obi has also emphasised that any alliance must address Nigeria’s deeper governance problems rather than just seeking power.

Sowore urged Nigerians to stop depending on political elites and begin crafting solutions on their terms.

“The people need to understand that the only way out is the one they design for themselves. There has to be a different direction. If you keep letting them do what they are doing with you — and you get distracted by all these conversations about coalitions — you are going to find yourself in a worse situation than now. That has been Nigeria’s story since the emergence of civil rule,” he said.

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