The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN, has dismissed speculations of a political coalition succeeding in unseating President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections, characterising such an attempt as “impossible”.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Keyamo claimed some political elites’ much-touted coalition ideas were “a storm in a teacup” and would not endure the power of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 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 comments made by a Labour Party chieftain, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, and other northern elites, including former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who have hinted at establishing an opposition coalition.
Baba-Ahmed denounced the Tinubu administration for causing widespread decay and asked Nigerians to look elsewhere in 2027.
Similarly, certain factions of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were said to be discussing a merger.
However, numerous PDP governors have officially distanced themselves from the proposal.
Ayo Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State, called the coalition discussions “a dead horse” and “a waste of time”.
Speaking on 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 highlighted how, following the 2011 elections, Tinubu quickly launched merger talks with then-General Muhammadu Buhari, a process that he said required 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.
Speaking on the influence of mass movements, particularly referencing Peter Obi’s 2023 Obidient movement, Keyamo argued, “The Labour Party was built around him and the Obidient movement. Go back to history — even Chief (Obafemi) Awolowo and Dr (Nnamdi) Azikiwe, despite being heroes, could not transcend the complexities of Nigerian elections without structures.”
Keyamo downplayed reports of a growing surge of youth movement endangering Tinubu’s re-election prospects.
“Under what platform?” he queried. “Did you see what happened in the 2023 elections?
“Despite the naira redesign policy and petroleum scarcity that were against our party, the structures of the APC held firm. It was like a house built on solid rock,” the minister added.
Keyamo further stated that Tinubu has “more friends in the North than in the South-West”, which he believes would be key in the upcoming election.
Following the recent defection of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to the APC, Keyamo declared that he has handed over the party’s leadership in the state to the governor.
“Whether I have to make sacrifices like yesterday, where we surrendered (party leadership in Delta), it is all irrelevant so long as we are strengthening APC the more for the re-election of Mr President,” he said.
