* Akin Osuntokun
By Pathfinder Reporter
Wednesday March 26, 2025
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Akin Osuntokun, former special adviser to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, has asserted that the coalition being formed to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027 would fail.
Osuntokun, who was former NAN managing director and lately director-general of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council in the last general election, said that Tinubu was an experienced politician and strategist; he knew how to navigate the murky waters of politics.
According to him, Tinubu has the power of incumbency and will use it to his advantage if he decides to seek re-election in 2027.
Osuntokun stated this in Abuja on Tuesday during an interview with the press.
“If he (Tinubu) could win an election (against all odds) when he was not President, you can imagine now when he is the President.
“I would not bet on the chances of the opposition. Tinubu seems to have a lot of cards to play at his disposal, and he is experienced and he is a master in terms of political strategy during elections.
“So, I would not bet against him. However, my advice for the opposition leaders coming together is to pick a presidential candidate from the South.
“If they pick a candidate from the North, they are going to run against the obstacle of the North-South rotational presidency principle,” Osuntokun said.
According to him, Tinubu has far more capacity to mobilize for the election than any other individual or group.
“The opposition leaders have Tinubu as a formidable opponent, who is going to ensure that he goes all out and wins the election,” Osuntokun said.
He, however, said there was nothing wrong with forming a coalition to challenge the government at the center so long the participants would be faithful and committed to the goals of the alliance.
“For any political party to effectively challenge the power at the center, it requires coming together to form a grand party to stand a better chance of having their objective being realized.
“So, to that extent, they (opposition leaders and parties) are right and correct with their planned formation of a coalition,” he added.
He cited the APC’s victory against the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in 2015 as an example of coalitions that had worked in the country’s political history.
Osuntokun, however, warned that the coalition might hit the rocks if the participants fail to agree on the means or method to select its presidential candidate.
He said that the presidential ambitions of certain figures in the coalition could affect their willingness to reach a compromise.
“So, this is going to be a test of the durability and potency of the coalition,” he said.
He advised the coalition leaders, especially those from the north, to shelve their ambitions and work for the emergence of a southern candidate, to ensure the success of the coalition.
“If the party ticket goes to a politician from the north, like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, he is going to be running against the principle or the convention that had been adopted since 1999: the power rotation between the North and South.
“So, he is going to violate that convention, and to that extent, he is going to lose support from the intelligentsia, and it will be a very hard sell,” he said.
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