Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has dismissed the idea that a political coalition might defeat President Bola Tinubu in the general elections of 2027, calling the endeavour “impossible”.
Keyamo denied reports that Tinubu’s chances of winning reelection were in danger due to an increasing surge of youth mobilisation.
In a recent interview, Keyamo claimed that the much-discussed coalition plans by certain political elites were “a storm in a teacup” and could not stand up to the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) robust structure.
“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 demography. It is impossible for you to do a coalition now to unseat the present President (Tinubu).”
Keyamo was responding to remarks made by Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, a leader of the Labour Party, and other northern elites who have alluded to the formation of an opposition coalition. These individuals include former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai and former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
Baba-Ahmed had advised Nigerians to look elsewhere in 2027 and charged that the Tinubu administration was overseeing massive corruption.
Likewise, there were rumours that several factions of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were thinking about merging.
Nonetheless, a number of PDP governors have openly disassociated themselves from the notion.
Ayo Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State, called the coalition discussions “a dead horse” and “a waste of time”.
When asked if Tinubu’s APC could withstand the alleged political “tsunami” being mobilised against it, Keyamo insisted that coalition talks were either misguided or too late in the day.
“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.”
Keyamo 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 birthed.
“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,” he added.
