The Presidency has blasted former President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointees who have aligned with a new opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections, accusing them of betrayal, personal ambition, and lack of ideology.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, especially called out prominent former officials including ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami; ex-Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika, and former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola, all of whom have reportedly joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a post on X late Wednesday, Onanuga warned Nigerians against trusting the new coalition, describing it as “a group of desperados” driven only by hatred for President Tinubu.
“No ideology binds them. They are united only by their hatred for Bola Tinubu. Their selfish and conflicting ambitions will soon tear them apart,” he wrote.
He accused Amaechi of losing interest in the All Progressives Congress (APC) after failing to secure the party’s presidential ticket in 2022, and Malami of distancing himself from the ruling party following his failed governorship bid in Kebbi State.
For Sirika, Onanuga noted, is currently facing trial for contract fraud, while Aregbesola, he claimed, was expelled from the APC over anti-party activities in Osun State.
The comments underscore deepening rising tensions as the 2027 elections loom.
The statement also highlighted the growing influence of the new opposition alliance, which recently adopted the ADC as its political platform after months of consultations.
The coalition, comprising key figures from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and aggrieved APC members, on Wednesday named former Senate President David Mark as interim National Chairperson, former Minister Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary, and ex-Minister of Youth and Sports Bolaji Abdullahi as spokesperson.
Echoing the Presidency’s stance, Minister of Aviation and APC chieftain Festus Keyamo, also mocked the coalition, claiming its formation has only strengthened the ruling party.
“By law, you cannot belong to two political parties. Their declaration for ADC is a clear abandonment of their previous parties,” Keyamo said in a post on X.
He argued that the ADC’s new configuration marks the formal collapse of the PDP, once Nigeria’s strongest opposition party.
“The emergence of ADC as presently constituted marks the formal dismemberment of the PDP,” he added.
Keyamo dismissed the coalition as a personal project of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, aimed at securing another presidential ticket. He claimed the group intends to use Labour Party’s Peter Obi for votes, without any intention of offering him the presidential ticket.
“No matter how you look at it, this is just Atiku’s faction of the PDP in desperate search for the 2027 Presidential ticket — nothing more, nothing less,” Keyamo stated.
“The person whom the old, cunning guards want to take for a ride in all of this is Peter Obi. They want his votes, but don’t want to give him their presidential ticket.”
He further questioned the coalition’s electoral logic, “How can you make someone who won two regions in the last election (South-East and South-South) a running mate to someone who won only one (North-East)?”
Political analysts say the unfolding drama mirrors the 2013 opposition realignment that birthed the APC, a coalition that unseated the PDP in 2015.
Still, critics like Onanuga and Keyamo insisted the coalition lacks coherence and is doomed to fail.
“When the dust settles,” Keyamo concluded, “you will discover that PDP and the Labour Party have lost something, the ADC has gained a caricature, but the APC has lost absolutely nothing.”
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