Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Segun Sowunmi has shared insights on the chances of candidates clinching the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2027 elections.
Sowunmi said the PDP needed to consider the dynamics of elections in Nigeria on the best combination of candidates to face 2027 presidential candidate Bola Tinubu.
In an interview with DAILY POST published on Friday, the PDP stalwart was asked about the possibility of getting a ticket featuring Atiku Abubakar alongside Peter Obi, Nyesom Wike or Bukola Saraki. .
Sowunmi said no two elections are the same as the last, but noted that four years is a long time for voters to change their minds or make up their minds about a particular candidate.
According to him, who ultimately emerges as the PDP presidential candidate will be determined by the primaries to be held at the appropriate time, but aspirants interested in flying the party’s flag will have to wait until the polls, benches, etc. They are said to be busy with marking, deep diving, and sightseeing around the country. Listen closely to where people are, rather than relying solely on social media permutations.
Especially regarding the odds of Atiku Obi’s ticket, the former Ogun PDP gubernatorial candidate said the fact that both men got good numbers in the 2023 elections automatically gives them good numbers if they come together in the 2027 elections. It is not meant to be maintained.
In response to the question, Soeunmi answered as follows. In the 2023 elections, if we had been smart and went to the polls with Atiku Wike tickets, we might have been very lucky. As you know, an untested hypothesis is still a hypothesis.
“As for Atiku-Obi, we tried it in 2019 and we know what happened then. People just combine the numbers Peter got with the numbers Atiku got in the last election. I prefer to say that you might get the results you want. Gita, some of these numbers are mutually exclusive, some will stand up because of Peter Obi and some will not stand up because of others, they will stand up for Atiku but Peter There are those who disagree, and of course those who intercept in the middle of both. I don’t know how many there will be.
“I always tell people that after every election we have to start all over again. You sew clothes for me, but in four years, if you are smart, you will have clothes that are fit for purpose. You have to remeasure the person to make it. If this is just a combination. If you just hold your breath until the next election and assume that everything will remain the same as the last election forever, you will end up in a lazy misery that you don’t want. We need to do the hard work of knowing exactly where we are.
“The dynamics could be completely different and the issues could be different. Even if Tinubu has a problem, that’s not what I’m saying. Maybe he’ll focus on North Korea. There, they may have some very big issues with how they are being treated, even from his APC’s perspective, regarding the votes they contributed last time. In the southern part of the country and even in the southeast I don’t know if you see that kind of hatred. When you go to the Southeast now, you’d be fooling yourself to say you don’t understand that they used to have more space. and they have a larger political They will be fooling themselves by saying there are no gladiators or politicians.If they take the position that the South has wanted for eight years, if it becomes a match between the North and the South, the South will be the brother of the South. It would be foolish and reckless to think that I wouldn’t go with him.
“These are simulations and assumptions, but what I’m saying is that anyone who wants to hold an election in 2027 is going to have to pay attention to polls, benchmarks, in-depth surveys, to listen closely to where the people are and what they’re saying on social media.” It’s just that they should be busy going around. It’s not the biggest assessment of people because they haven’t seen the votes commensurate with that on the ground so they can take advantage of the off-season to measure it.”
Regarding the possibility of a flight between Atiku and Saraki, Sowunmi said it might be difficult to operate such a flight as it would mean that both the flag bearer and the secondary baserunner would be from the same region. He said no. However, he did not rule out the possibility of one of them being the final PDP candidate for the 2027 elections.
In his words, “The truth about the Atiku-Saraki ticket is that it is very difficult, because technically you have to stay in upper Niger to choose between the two candidates.” Because while we’re looking for people to help, one of them might be a candidate.” Someone in the South. But we can’t field a difficult South-West and South-South figure, then we can say Atiku could be the candidate and then support him with someone from the South or Bukola He’s going to be the candidate and we’re going to support him with someone from the South.
“I never thought of it that way, but we can bring back Bukola Saraki and Peter Obi. And as I said, my position is very clear, but it is ambiguous. There are 220 million people in the country, but only 3 We cannot shout names to the presidents of Nigeria. Our challenge has reached a point where we have to go beyond the rhetoric and look deeply at what they are offering. It seems like he’s not satisfied with that either.”
The PDP leader will have to work hard to unseat Tinubu, whoever ultimately emerges as the PDP candidate or whatever combination the party decides to come up with. Deaf added.
He said, “For political parties, there is no assumption that they can win elections on popularity alone, elections are much more scientific, much deeper, more pervasive, whatever they want to say, the fact that Tinubu knows everything. We have to fight against it,” he said. They think they know politics, but anything they think they can do or orchestrate in politics, he can do because he is a politician. And it would be the stupidest thing to think that the only thing they have against him is tribalism. Because they’re shocked at the kind of human resources he has in other parts of the country. What if they were standing in that gap in his place? Therefore, determining who will be the candidate requires a more detailed, careful, thorough, and deep analysis of the public’s opinion. ”
In his response, Sowunmi also stressed the need to realize that the final decision would be for Nigerians to go to the polls to decide their leaders. He, however, called on the PDP to ensure that it presents credible candidates for the election.
“Do the people want a southern president? They want a Fulani 4 Are we ready to welcome the next Fulani in 2020? All these questions need to be asked and how will those who deceive themselves that they will win the general election without thorough analysis and benchmarking do so? I don’t know. Some of our younger generation are starting to get a little anxious. We shouldn’t think we can’t say either way. If we want to be angry, we’re all together. Let’s be angry,” said a former Atiku campaign spokesperson. Said.
