2027: Governors’ defections to APC won’t distract us – Atiku-led Coalition

The Atiku Abubakar-led 2027 National Coalition has said the ongoing defections of some governors and other politicians into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will not distract the movement.

On Wednesday, Delta state governor and the entire Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure defected to the APC.

Reacting to the development on Thursday, one of the secretariat leaders of the proposed 2027 National Coalition, Malam Salihu Moh Lukman, said the recent development did not come to them as a surprise.

According to the former Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), the Coalition is out to present a credible alternative in 2027 for Nigerians.

He said the beauty of democracy is about competition, adding that the whole initiative about the coalition is to ensure that in 2027, Nigerians are presented with options.

“We have gone far, and what has happened in terms of some governors and some leaders moving into APC is not going to distract us at all. Not long from now, the full detail of the coalition will be unveiled to Nigerians. And the structure and the strategy in terms of how the election will be contested will be clarified.

“First, I think anybody who will say this is not 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.

“You also know that the situation in PDP, the party is clearly a shadow of its own self. Although we acknowledge there are people, there are leaders in 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, and shortly after that, you saw the statement from Akwa Ibom state governor, and of course the Delta governor. It’s not only him, if you check the comments, there are many more that are being expected. And on two sides, on the side of people who genuinely worry for the country, are expressing fear about a one-party state.”

Speaking further on why the Coalition is not distracted, Lukman said:”I can tell you for certain, we are not going to produce a new political structure that will be blind or ignorant of the character of politicians. Anybody coming in will be related to, based on their own past trajectory. So, if truly we want to rescue the country, we are not talking of rescuing the country as just defeating Asiwaju and APC.

“We want to correct all the mistakes and shortcomings from the Buhari administration to the Asiwaju administration, and we want to restore the aspiration of Nigerians to produce a stronger and greater country, produce leaders that they will be proud of.
That is what the coalition is all about. And if anybody sees it differently, we are going to correct all of that.”

On the status of the Coalition at the moment, Lukman said: “All I can say is that what we are doing in negotiating the coalition is to produce a united Nigeria. A leadership that will see the country at its own cost. Because 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. And everybody will see that there are new leaders that are truly accountable to Nigerians. We don’t want to produce another set of emperors. Whatever they do is unquestionable.”