A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Lagos governorship candidate, Adetokunbo Pearse, has described the proposed coalition of opposition parties to unseat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027 as impractical and lacking strategic direction.
Pearse, who is also the Convener of Reset Lagos PDP and a member of the PDP National Presidential Campaign Council for 2023, expressed his concerns in an exclusive interview.
While acknowledging the coalition’s intent as noble due to what he termed the ruling party’s poor governance, he dismissed the initiative as a “wild goose chase.”
Drawing from Nigeria’s political history, Pearse argued that past political alliances have largely been unsuccessful.
He cited the 1960 coalition between then-Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa’s Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and then-President Nnamdi Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC), which collapsed within two years.
This failure, he noted, led to another unsuccessful partnership between the NPC and the breakaway faction of the Action Group (AG), known as the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP).
According to him, the artificial alliances contributed to political instability, including civil unrest in the Western Region and the military coup of 1966, which ultimately led to the Nigeria-Biafra war.
Pearse also pointed to more recent examples, such as the unsuccessful merger attempts by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) ahead of the 2019 general elections.
He attributed their failure to internal conflicts, lack of unified leadership, and bitter rivalries, which ultimately weakened the opposition and helped APC secure re-election.
He explained that the success of the 2013 merger between Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was due to both parties’ mutual necessity.
Cautioning against prioritizing “quantity over quality” in opposition strategies, Pearse insisted that the most effective way to defeat APC in 2027 is not through a coalition but by strengthening PDP’s existing structure.
He argued that if Peter Obi had not introduced LP as a third force in 2023, Atiku would have doubled Tinubu’s vote count, making a PDP victory inevitable.
He maintained that instead of rebranding PDP under a new identity, the party should focus on consolidating its existing support base, particularly in the South East and among Christian communities in the North.
With 12 governors, 38% of the Senate, 43% of the House of Representatives, and widespread influence at the state and local government levels, Pearse stated that PDP remains Nigeria’s only viable opposition party.
“In conclusion, all Nigerians who wish to save the country from APC’s apocalyptic administration should lend support to PDP to dislodge Tinubu in 2027. Lending support to some fictitious coalition will only help APC remain in power,” he declared.
He further alleged that APC’s focus on destabilizing PDP from within proves the ruling party sees it as its main rival.
“If APC is not afraid of PDP, why has it spent all its energy trying to weaken PDP internally?” he queried.
