…Says Tinubu will defeat Obi, Atiku in 2027

THE Convener of The Alternative Movement, Segun Showunmi, yesterday, declined reports of multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria, stressing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has performed creditably well in steering the country out of socio-economic challenges he met in office.

A member of the Tinubu/Shetima 2027 Presidential Campaign Council, Showunmi, who spoke yesterday in Abuja, believed that no political party has what it takes to unseat Tinubu in the coming general elections.
He also warned opposition parties against misinformation and disinformation, especially during the elections, stating that any attempt by the opposition to declare election results before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will land perpetrators in trouble.

“Let me use this opportunity to warn them. I have heard some people say they are going to release results. The law of Nigeria is very strict on that. Anybody who attempts to release result and declare winners other than INEC would be taken for treasons. The only authority that has power by our law to declare election result is INEC”, he said.

On the issue of multi-dimensional poverty, he said that over 150 million Nigerians have been supported by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs under President Tinubu out of which majority are doing well in supporting national economy.

“The last time I checked, about 15 million people have been supported by the intervention that comes from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and at least, about five million of them have gone to do so much and obviously escaped that poverty trap.

“But if you ask me, we have left where we used to be. We are no longer where people were laughing at us. If foreigners are telling us what we don’t accept, does that mean we ourselves are not aware of our own reality? He asked.

Showunmi added that the question of poverty and lifting people out must equally accommodate the fact that the economy of the world is shifting in terms of skills people have before and what the new global order is.

“This is affecting people all over the world. Machine learning, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) will make it necessary for people to reskill themselves, but I am not here to tell you that everybody in Nigeria is living on in wealth. Forget about all those talks about multi-dimensional property. It is not correct”, he said.
He added that for people to be lifted out of poverty, expectations should not be concentrated at the federal government without holding states and local governments, who are closest to the people, accountable.

“You cannot look at the office of the President to lead people out of poverty. You lift people out of poverty at the base. The President has ensured that more money gets to the state and local government and that salaries and gratuities are paid as and when due.”
Noting that the economy was recently saved from collapse, he believed more time should be given to President Tinubu to complete the design.

Despite all Shownmi said the government of Tinubu has done, citizens remained sceptical, especially as economic indicators pointed downward. Against this background, he expressed the need to tinker with the communication architecture of Mr President for more strategic dissemination of information on the giant developmental strides of the government.

“I think the communication architecture will be tinkered with”, he said, stressing, however, the implications of changing people with responsibilities halfway down the line.

“Sometimes, when government is structured and people have been put in responsibility, there is no real advantage in changing them at the middle because you must bring them into the system and give them information, and you are losing time. Sometimes, it takes as much as eight months to fully understand how to work within the process of government.”

Showunmi also declined the allegation of turning the country into a one-party system by the All Progressives Congress (APC), stressing the dangerous implication of a single narrative.
He blamed the situation on opposition’s failure to do their works timely only to hang every blame on their rivals. According to him, no country can lead itself in the direction of a one-party system. I know there are 18 political parties with presidential candidates today. How does that translate to the one-party state? Their own idea of political party is that if they don’t have the ticket, the party must die.”