Former Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo said efforts by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to hijack the party for personal battles against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would be resisted.
Frowning at their unilateral approach to coalition, he said SDP is not a “getaway car for a conspiracy and robbery”.
Adebayo, who spoke during the 50th birthday of his wife, Queen Lillian Adebayo in Abuja, said SDP is not a platform for personal political battles.
Also yesterday, former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Deputy National Chairman Chief Olabode George warned Atiku for opening alliance talks on behalf of the party without consultation.
He also chided the former vice president for visiting former President Muhammadu Buhari in connection with coalition.
But Atiku fired back, saying that George was ignorant of his mission to Buhari in Kaduna, capital of Kaduna State.
His media aide, Paul Ibe, said in a statement that he only paid a post-sallah visit, and not a political visit, to Buhari.
Ibe said:”Bode George is ignorant of the place of the former President. He was President under an APC-led administration. But with the conclusion of his tenure, he is now a statesman who should be accessible to Nigerians, including the Waziri Adamawa.
“He is not occupying a partisan position. Atiku did not go to discuss coalition or politics with Buhari. He paid him a post-Sallah visit.”
Adebayo said the motive behind the coalition should be properly explained and understood before SDP can jump into it.
He also said the coalition notwithstanding, he would run for president in 2027.
Adebayo said: “Of course, my party knows that I’m running for the 2027 election. As for the coalition, we are listening to them. We don’t want to be a getaway car for a conspiracy and robbery we did not plan. That’s not available.
“If the coalition is for the Nigerian people, the SDP is available. But if it is just a crime centre for disappointed Tinubu followers, they should go back to him and resolve their differences there. Don’t come to SDP to borrow us for a fight we are not involved in.”
Former African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, who also witnessed the ceremony, took a swipe on the ongoing coalition move by opposition elements.
He said although he supported of coalition and opposition in a democratic setting, the individuals involved in the move lack the credibility to champion real change.
Sowore said: “I support coalitions and opposition. But not the kind that has people like El-Rufai. When the time comes, the moment they are offered what they want, they will go back to where they came from.
“The APC was a coalition. Did you forget? The people who are asking to form another coalition were former APC members. In fact, most of them were Buhari cabinet members who are supposed to be in prison forming a union of prisoners, not coalitions.”