Atiku, Obi, Mark in Alliance Built on Hatred for Tinubu— Onanuga

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has criticized the newly formed opposition coalition, describing it as a desperate alliance built solely on animosity toward the president.

The coalition, which includes former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and ex-Senate President David Mark, recently adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform for the 2027 general elections.

Reacting to the development, Onanuga said the coalition comprises individuals who are politically irrelevant or have long distanced themselves from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Some members of the hijacked ADC, who were reported as members of the APC, left the APC years and months ago,” he said. “Let the public not be deceived by the opposition’s narrative about their relevance or whether the APC will mourn their departure.”

Onanuga cited names to make his point. “Rotimi Amaechi’s soul left the APC in 2022 after losing the presidential primary to President Tinubu. Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney-General, has never hidden his estrangement from the APC since Tinubu assumed leadership and since he lost the governorship bid in Kebbi. Hadi Sirika, now with the ADC, is facing trial for contract splitting and other allegations. The renegade Rauf Aregbesola committed anti-party in the last Osun election and was expelled as an unfit APC member.”

He also accused Kashim Imam and former APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, of abandoning the party long ago.

“Kashim Imam abandoned the APC after failing to secure the vice-presidential ticket in 2022. Chief Oyegun, a former party chairman, also lost interest in the APC and has been a foundational member of this coalition since its inception,” Onanuga said.

He went further to describe the coalition as “a dangerous political experiment with no direction or vision.”

“My advice to Nigerians: keep your eyes wide open. A political party with no clear agenda or ideology—whose members are united only by their hatred for President Tinubu—cannot be good for our country. It will only set us back by decades.”

Onanuga concluded by casting doubt on the intentions of the coalition members, “These politicians are desperados, hungry for power, not for the benefit of Nigerians but for themselves. They want power at all costs because they cannot endure another four years in the political wilderness or be banished to political winter and irrelevance. What is certain is that the group will soon unravel due to their irreconcilable personal and political ambitions.”

The post Atiku, Obi, Mark in Alliance Built on Hatred for Tinubu— Onanuga appeared first on Kano Times.