Onanuga: Atiku’s political future looks bleak — his proposed coalition has crumbled

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, says the political future of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar “looks bleak”.

Onanuga said the coalition being planned by Abubakar and his allies to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027 has “disintegrated”.

On Wednesday, Sheriff Oborevwori, governor of Delta, and other top political leaders in the state, left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC.

Ifeanyi Okowa, former Delta governor and PDP vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, is also expected to defect to the ruling party.

Abubakar had handpicked Okowa as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.

The PDP is currently battling a wave of high-profile defections amid speculations that more party leaders could join the APC in the coming days.

Responding to an X post by Tunde Rahman, Onanuga said Okowa’s defection and the stance of some members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), have created problems for the proposed coalition.

“Atiku’s political future looks bleak. The coalition that he, El Rufai, Babachir, and new member Baba-Ahmed are cobbling together has disintegrated,” Onanuga said.

“Potential allies, including former running mate Ifeanyi Okowa and defunct CPC members, are giving his leprous group a wide berth. Atiku is a loser again.”

Abubakar has repeatedly expressed a desire to build a coalition of opposition political parties to wrest power from the APC ahead of the 2027 election.

Amid the coalition conversation, PDP governors ruled out the possibility of a merger or coalition with any other political party.