The Presidential Campaign Organisation of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has labelled the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council a “coalition of failed politicians,” stating that it cannot stop President Bola Tinubu from facing an impending defeat in the 2027 general election.
In a Wednesday statement issued by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, Makinde’s Allied Peoples Movement Council called the council a “Nebuchadnezzar Coalition” headed toward political disgrace, pointing to worsening insecurity, economic difficulties, and waning public trust in the Tinubu administration.
The Council stated, “This Nebuchadnezzar Coalition is headed for the rocks, as it cannot whitewash the failures of the Tinubu administration nor rewrite the painful realities confronting citizens. It cannot manufacture public acceptance through a parade of “political predators” and power-drunk elites who are mistaking political dominance for public acceptance.
“With the high confidence that President Tinubu reposes in this alliance of failed governors, yes-along legislators, and discredited politicians, some of whom are fleeing from corruption investigations, even as his administration presides over an unprecedented economic crisis, worsening insecurity and a devastating collapse of public confidence, we see in the APC Presidential Campaign Council imminent political humiliation.
“History is replete with the humiliation of those who mistake transitory power for permanence while reinforcing their illusions by surrounding themselves with compensated loyalists and sycophants, who do not command the loyalty or followership of the people, rather than confront the stark reality of failures.
“What explanation will the Nebuchadnezzar Coalition offer Nigerians for the 140 million citizens (63% of the population) now trapped in multidimensional poverty, according to a World Bank Report, and the 113 million experiencing deprivation in health, education, and other basics occasioned by President Tinubu’s misrule?”
The organization asked how the APC campaign council would account for the worsening hardship experienced by millions of Nigerian families and the increasing youth unemployment it attributed to Tinubu’s policies.
It further referred to a Federal Government disclosure stating that 70 percent of Nigerian children below the age of 10 were unable to read and comprehend a simple sentence.
The Makinde Campaign stated that the figures demonstrated the country’s worsening socio-economic difficulties and declining human capital, maintaining that the APC campaign council could not substitute accountability and measurable results in the face of widespread hunger, homelessness, and illiteracy.
It continued, “President Tinubu is on a collision course with the people. He faces a defining battle between the arrogance of power and the democratic resolve of a battered population, driven to the brink by deepening socio-economic hardship, for which they ultimately seek liberation.
“No coalition or power of incumbency can insulate President Tinubu from the consequences of misrule. None can extinguish mounting public grievances, erase the memory of broken promises, or override the people’s constitutional right to demand accountability and change.
“The APC can further enlarge their Nebuchadnezzar Coalition, but it certainly cannot assemble the Nigerian people by force of political influence. Elections are not won by the size of a campaign council or the number of powerful figures gathered. They are won by the confidence of citizens who must ultimately decide whether their lives have improved under the government seeking their votes.
“In every democracy, the ultimate verdict belongs to the people, and no presidential campaign council, however imposing, can stand between a disillusioned people and their determination for a change through the ballot.”
On Tuesday, the All Progressives Congress released the names of members of President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign council, which includes leaders of the ruling party as well as several opposition figures.
The prominent opposition leaders named include Anambra State Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance; Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party; and Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party.
