By Douglas Odoh
The quest for credible leadership in Nigeria has intensified as 2027 inches closer. Although there were fears over the preparedness of Nigeria’s major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to wrestle power from the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) with the crisis rocking the party.
But in what many Nigerians have described as one of the biggest shake-ups in Nigerian politics since the end of military rule in 1999, the APC could be in for a big fight. Nigeria’s two main opposition leaders have joined a new political party to challenge President Bola Tinubu and his ruling party in the next elections.
With notable figures like former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, ex-Senate President David Mark, a former presidential aspirant, Dele Momodu, former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai that have recently joined the African Democratic Congress led opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 elections, it may not be an easy walk to victory for the ruling APC.
However, while there is an urgent need for unity among opposition forces that would give Nigerians a new lease of life, we must be careful not to mortgage our collective future by embracing individuals whose track records are contaminated with devious and questionable ambitions.
Agreed that the proposed opposition party parades men with intimidating credentials as far as Nigeria’s political landscape is concerned, their past actions are the reason Nigeria is entangled in its present economic quagmire.
For instance, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi lacks the modicum of morality and integrity required to represent the South-South in any serious national coalition despite his wealth of experience and political standing, at least for now. His name evokes suspicion than trust. Most Nigerians, particularly those from the South-South, can easily recall his participation and strategic roles in the most vaunted 2015 coalition that ousted Goodluck Jonathan, the first South-South person to ascend to the position of the president of Nigeria.
What about Nasir El-Rufai, whose determination to have President Muhammadu Buhari remain in power in 2019 was visible to the blind? El-Rufai claimed his decision was not “for his political gain but because Buhari remained the best candidate that could govern the country” at that time, insisting that “Nigerians were generally satisfied with the performance of the president and would give him their votes overwhelmingly when he seeks re-election in 2019.”
Fast forward to 2025, Should Nigerians listen to these master-conspirators and agents of a coalition against a southern President again? Whether Tinubu is performing or not, Nigerians cannot hurriedly forget Buhari’s eight years of maladministration and terror. No matter their rhetoric, it is glaringly obvious to the blind that these men are perpetually unrepentant and unpatriotic as they were in 2014/2015. All they care about is to grab power again to satisfy their insatiable crave to amass wealth; which would lead to a vicious circle of kleptocrats.
Have we also forgotten the resonating lies and propaganda of 2015 against former president Goodluck Jonathan? The current coalition promises are still championed by the same like-minds; Nasir El- Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amechi, and others.
The question is; why do they always have issues with southern presidents in their first tenure? Buhari committed outrageous blunders and borrowed us into abject penury, he was not ousted, and there was no clarion call for a coalition. The entire Northern leaders kept silent with a nauseating complacency and indifference as Nigeria’s economy plunged into an abysmal economic tragedy.
Consequently, the south should not allow personal ambitions or the ghosts of 2015 conspiracy to ridicule the seriousness of what must be a transformative project for Nigeria. If truly there is any coalition capable of getting Nigerians into the promised land, then it should not be led by the kind of personalities championing it currently.
Although Amaechi could be perceived as a counterbalance to the excesses of Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, who remains Amaechi’s longtime archrival and another figure that polarized Rivers State, the political calculations have changed, and Nigerians will no longer be easily swayed by media blitz and saturation or strong-arm regional bewilderment. Surely, 2027 will not be like 2015 and 2023.
The failures and betrayals of past coalitions, especially those built on fragile egos and backroom deals, have taught us bitter lessons. We need leadership that inspires confidence, not one that drags the coalition into internal squabbles or discredits its moral argument against the ruling APC.
Let us be clear; good governance begins with good character. You cannot demand accountability with unclean hands. A national coalition must reflect the best of Nigeria; a coalition of ideas, integrity, and innovation. It cannot simply be a gang-up of familiar names seeking political resurrection. If we are truly committed to change, we must elevate individuals who have shown consistency of character, credibility, and a willingness to put the nation above self.
The Southern region, like the North, deserves leaders who can be trusted; leaders who have conscience and are committed to national development; not those who will be surrounded by whispers of impropriety and partisan nonchalance when they grab power and their self-interest and political agenda is satiated.
The truth remains that we need a better government than what we are witnessing with the APC at the national level since 2015, and should not forget what happened in the 2023 election. The veracity of the events that occurred reveals that in the Nigerian political terrain, moralists alone do not win; only realists do. Hence, we must recognize the necessity of playing smart politics without losing our soul and moral clarity.
Accordingly, amidst the call for morally based politics, there is a strong clarion call to the opposition to put its house in order. This will enable it match President Tinubu’s political machinery if truly there is a sincere coalition that is not only in scale but in strategy. This means building alliances that are broad-based but principled, pragmatic and not predatory. The coalition must be alert, calculating, and proactive; and must shine their eyes, as His Excellency, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, aptly advised.
Therefore, if we are serious about 2027, then we must be serious about the quality of our coalition. Nigerians are watching, and their patience is wearing out. The time for recycling disgruntled and morally ambiguous politicians is over.
We must move forward with clarity of purpose hewn out of passionate patriotism and national empathy, people-ness, national courage, integrity, true democracy, humanity, and character. That is the only way we can offer the Nigerian people a true alternative to achieving a NEW NIGERIA away from the current APC blunders; not just another political arrangement, but a genuine movement for good governance, national renewal, and accountable leadership.
Odoh, a public affairs analyst, sent in this piece from Port Harcourt
