We’ll go with coalition reserving presidential ticket for S’East, says Ohanaeze
Founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, has censured former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, over the claim that the Federal Government sponsored crises within NNPP, Labour Party (LP) and Peoples People Democratic Party (PDP).

In another development, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said it would align with any political coalition that guarantees an automatic 2027 presidential ticket to a candidate of Igbo extraction, accompanied by a Northern running mate.

el-Rufai, who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), said the crises in LP, PDP and NNPP were engineered by the APC-led government of the day.

But Aniebonam, while responding on the telephone, said it was an insult for el-Rufai to make such a claim, which he could not substantiate.

He asked if it was the government of the day that instigated a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Buba Galadima, who both joined NNPP in 2022, about 20 years after he (Aniebonam) founded the party, to come and suspend the founder.

He said el-Rufai should rather face his career in his newly founded political party and pursue his aspiration without making bogus claims.

Aniebonam said: “I used to have a lot of respect for the former governor of Kaduna State, but with this unfounded claim, I don’t know what to say anymore about him.

“It is the selfish motives and unbridled ambitions of some politicians within the NNPP that is causing the internal wranglings in the party, and not the government of the day, as claimed by el-Rufai.”

Also, spokesman of the LP presidential candidate, Tanko Yinusa, told The Guardian that the claim by the new bride of SDP could not be totally dismissed, even as there was no proof to substantiate it.

SDP Secretary, Olu Agunloye, on his part, emphasised the need for proper planning and unity among political actors as more individuals seek to join the party.

In a discussion that referenced the potential return of former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, to the SDP, Agunloye acknowledged that many politicians were “angling to join” the party, recognising Nigeria’s need for a strong political platform.

However, he said he was not yet aware of such a move by Bafarawa, just as he cautioned that without good planning, such efforts could fail.

He compared the political landscape to a bowl of rice or a train seat, warning that if politicians scramble for power without coordination, they risk losing everything.

OHANAEZE made it clear that any other realignment outside this framework would fail.

This was contained in a joint statement issued by Ohanaeze’s factional Deputy President-General, Okechukwu Isigozoro, and Chinenyeze Ohia, and made available to newsmen, yesterday.

Reacting to the defection el-Rufai, from APC to SDP, Ohanaeze stated: “In light of his past governance and the consequential suffering experienced by the Igbo and Christian communities during his administration, we resolutely characteriseel-Rufai as a political leper and a liability to any party he aligns himself with, particularly the SDP.

“During his tenure as Kaduna governor from 2015 to 2023, el-Rufai presided over an administration fraught with serious allegations of violence and persecution directed against the Igbo and the Christian populace of Southern Kaduna.”

While Ohanaeze Ndigbo observed the coalition of opposition leaders mobilising around the SDP in anticipation of the 2027 elections, it emphatically stated: “Unless this coalition provides an automatic 2027 SDP presidential ticket to a candidate of Igbo descent and a Christian, accompanied by a Northern running mate, any attempt to realign outside this framework is doomed to fail.

“Should they consider the SDP a Northern party that merely requires South-Eastern cooperation to sustain a Northern candidate, let it be known that such a strategy is unequivocally deadon arrival.”

It restated its firm on the adherence to the principle of a Southern presidency, consistent with the gentleman’s agreement regarding the rotational leadership arrangement between the North and South.