***I will retain subsidy removal, if elected says NDC candidate
Opposition coalition against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu collapsed due to ideological differences and clash of ambitions, the arrowheads of the alliance project said on Monday.
African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, his Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) counterpart Peter Obi and Omoyele Sowore of African Action Congress (AAC) admitted their inability to make sacrifice and achieve consensus ahead of next year’s poll.
They spoke at the opening plenary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
At the session titled: ‘Politics, people and Nigeria’s future,’ there was a dramatic exchange between Atiku’s running mate, Rotimi Amaechi, who represented the former Vice President, and Sowore over whether opposition politicians could work together to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and whether candidates who had previously held public office deserved another opportunity.
For over one year, moves by opposition leaders to form a united front against the APC suffered a setback because the arrowheads could not jettison their long-standing presidential ambition.
Following irreconcilable differences, Atiku and Obi, who briefly cohabitted in the ADC, had to go their separate ways because of lack of compromise.
Other candidates running on the platforms of smaller parties such as Labour Party (LP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Youth Peoples Party (YPP), also withdrew from the coalition talks.
There is an ongoing attempt by a so-called Group of 100 (G100) spearheaded by an ADC chieftain Salihu Lukman to bring the opposition leaders together to support a single candidate.
A planned August 18 meeting of opposition parties leaders failed to hold. The meeting is rescheduled for August 31.
Amaechi: Opposition leaders unwilling to step aside
Amaechi said the difficulty with the coalition project was that virtually every politician involved had a personal ambition and was unwilling to step aside.
He said: “Vice President Atiku will be willing to participate. But the difficulty is everybody has a vision. Nobody wants to give up. There are very few politicians who are in love with Nigeria.”
Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State and two-time minister of transportation, acknowledged that politicians had failed Nigerians but argued that voters should assess them based on their records rather than simply reject everyone who had previously held office.
He said: “I know the question that will come from one of you now will be, are you not one of them? Yes, I’m one of them.”
Amaechi urged voters to scrutinise the records of politicians seeking their support.
He said: “Look at those who have stolen your money. Don’t vote for them. Look at those who are exhibiting their wealth. Don’t vote for them.”
Amaechi added that the records of former governors and other public officials should be examined before voters decide whom to support.
He stressed: “Coalition may not be able to work because individual politicians have their ambitions and they don’t want to give up. And since they don’t want to give up, Nigerians should come together and vote for experience and capacity.”
Amaechi, insisted that a coalition must first be achieved before any candidate could be expected to step aside.
He queried: “I said first that you’ve got to achieve a coalition. So if you don’t have a coalition, how do you step down?”
Amaechi said the proposed coalition should also be judged by the performance of its members in previous public offices.
He added: “Assess us by our last performance and choose. Don’t just go because you have a problem.”
Obi gives conditions for coalition
Obi said he remained open to a coalition, provided it is based on a clear purpose and the objective of rescuing Nigeria from its current challenges.
He said: “When you talk about coalition, the first thing to ask, coalition for what? If the coalition is for good governance, to tackle the issues affecting Nigeria, I agree on it and I still think it can be achieved.”
Obi said any coalition must examine the background, competence, capacity, commitment and character of those involved.
He added: “If we have somebody who I’m convinced will do that work, of course, yes, we’re already talking with each other. How do we come together?”
For Obi, the most important requirement was “unity of purpose” to change Nigeria and restore effective governance.
Coalition can’t defeat president, says Sowore
Sowore disagreed with Atiku and Obi that a coalition is needed to defeat President Tinubu.
He believes that Nigerians, rather than politicians seeking to preserve the old order, would determine the outcome of the election.
He said: “To go straight to the point, I disagree with you that we need an opposition to defeat the incumbent.”
Sowore argued that an opposition alliance without ideological differences from the government it seeks to replace would not produce meaningful change.
He added: “If you support removal of fuel subsidy, you are not different from the government in power.
“If you support and live a corrupt lifestyle, you are not different from the government in power.”
Sowore said Nigerians must look beyond personalities and ask what prospective leaders intend to change.
He said: “It is the people, the Nigerian people, that will defeat the incumbent, not their friends who do not want to change the old order.”
Sowore also said he would only work with politicians genuinely committed to changing the country.
He added: “If anybody is willing to change the country, I will work with the person. But I will not work with anybody who simply wants to replace the old order with an older, even ricketier order.”
Sowore, Amaechi clash
The most dramatic moment of the session came when Sowore challenged Amaechi’s position on subsidy and the records of politicians who had previously held public office.
He accused politicians of misleading Nigerians over subsidy policy and then seized on Amaechi’s earlier acknowledgement that many of the politicians contesting the presidency had previously occupied public offices.
“They have no business coming back. You guys should be apologising to the Nigerian people,” Sowore said.
Amaechi immediately interrupted to correct him.
“Let me say one more thing. Stop lying. I said, judge us by our achievements,” he fired back.
Turning directly to Amaechi, he referred to the rail project constructed during his tenure as Rivers governor and questioned its effectiveness.
Amaechi, in response, shifted the debate to electoral viability, telling the audience that Sowore could not win the 2027 presidential election simply by making strong arguments before lawyers at the conference.
