A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Segun Sowunmi, has said that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has not made up his mind to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Sowunmi, a former spokesman to Atiku, said he had spoken to the former presidential candidate of the PDP about contesting the 2027 election but was yet to get a clear answer.
The PDP chieftain made the revelation on Monday in Abuja at the unveiling of the National Opposition Movement Coalition, a platform aimed at promoting a vibrant opposition as well as transparent, credible democratic and electoral processes ahead of the 2027 election.
His revelation came a few days after a chieftain of the PDP, Chief Olabode George, advised the former vice president to step back and allow others to lead.
Sowunmi, however, said the decision to run for the presidency should not be just about Atiku, but about anyone with the heart to develop Nigeria and clear plans for the country’s development.
“After all, who would have argued that Tinubu, giving his pedigree and what he has done, take everything away from him, would be in the villa struggling?
“So that means that there’s something beyond what one individual can do. Atiku has not even told me he is running. I’ve asked him two times. I’ll ask him one more time, if he doesn’t give an answer. That’s it,” he said.
The PDP chieftain recounted his efforts to persuade former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi to run for the presidency on the platform of the PDP in 2023.
“I know the amount of running around the country I did just to persuade the people of southeastern extraction in PDP, especially Excellency, Peter Obi,” he said.
“I believe we are going to destroy this country if we run a country that gives the third leg of our independent struggle the idea that they cannot be president, or that there will be a glass ceiling over their head.
“I went all over the Southeast, begging people and visited even Peter Obi more than five times until I said buy the form, let us even see whether the Nigerian people will reach you. I know they will.
“That was the journey. And when he wanted to go to the Labour Party, he didn’t tell me, but he didn’t have to tell me. I still commend him for even daring for bringing the conversation of the southeast to the fore.
“But I do know that beyond the pedagogy of language like production, consumption, nation-building is a very serious business. And I’m not saying I will not even back him, but we must back him on an assumption that he can get the job done. There’s no point in designing an election contest that is only going to bring frustration.”
He said the new movement was established due to the “need to rescue our nation and democracy from the danger we see on the horizon.
He said the promoters of the movement had watched the enthusiasm of citizens wane over the years with each election proving to be worse than the previous.
Sowunmi added: “We have watched the electoral umpire, INEC, improve its guidelines and operational manual. Yet, rather than an increase in election integrity, what we see is a progressive lack of integrity and transparency in the electoral process.
“The judiciary of our country has not been spared as we have observed an unacceptable and dangerous erosion of the integrity of judicial institutions, which ordinarily should provide balance, checkmating institutions of government and protecting the state from a complete collapse.
“We have observed an increase in the activities of thugs, other non-state actors and violence at play, adding to the challenges of our democracy. The reason for the birth of this movement is the need to rescue our nation and democracy from the danger we see on the horizon.
“Respect for the principle of party supremacy is now at an all-time low. A viable opposition to checkmate the activities of the incumbent government is almost non-existent.
“There is an urgent need for a platform to engage political actors, national stakeholders, academia, civil society, the media, the political parties themselves, democratic institutions of other nations and all who can contribute to the wellness and sustainability of our democracy.”