Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, says no coalition can unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
Keyamo spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday.
He said the talk-about political coalition plans by some political elite amounted to “a storm in a teacup” and such would not withstand the strength of the structure of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“There is no tsunami coming,” he declared. “I think it’s a storm in a teacup. I respect these people, but if you look at the political history of Nigeria… I have campaigned for two presidents, so I have knowledge of the demographics. It is impossible for you to do a coalition now to unseat the present President (Tinubu).”
The minister reacted to comments made by the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, and other northern elite, including a former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, who have hinted at forming an opposition coalition.
Baba-Ahmed accused the Tinubu administration of overseeing widespread decay and called on Nigerians to seek alternative leadership in 2027.
Meanwhile, there were reports that certain factions within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were contemplating a possible merger.
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has confirmed that they were working towards a political coalition with other parties.
However, within the PDP, some governors and former governors have publicly disagreed with the idea of a political coalition.
Ayo Fayose, former governor of Ekiti, described the coalition talks as “a dead horse” and “a waste of time”.
When asked whether Tinubu’s APC could survive the alleged political “tsunami” forming against it, Keyamo dismissed the coalition efforts as either ill-conceived or coming too late.
“There are two different things they are talking about — a merger or an alliance. They should be very clear. If it’s a merger, forget it, because it’s too late to start a merger now,” he explained.
“With the process you have to go through — to register, get a new identity and all that — and with elections just around the corner by next year’s end, it is not feasible.”
The minister noted that the formation of a political coalition is a long process that cannot happen before the 2027 elections.
He recalled how, after the 2011 elections, President Tinubu had swiftly initiated merger talks with then-General Muhammadu Buhari, a process he said took years of negotiations, back-and-forth meetings, and conventions.
“The moment we lost the 2011 elections, Tinubu flew to Kaduna and met General (Muhammadu) Buhari. It was a long process before the APC was born.
“These people (current coalition proponents) are not experienced enough,” he said.
“The President you are seeing now has gone through all of these, so he is just smiling and looking at all of them; he understands,” Keyamo said.
