FORMER Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, on Saturday asked those planning a coalition for the 2027 election to tell Nigerians how the removal of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, improved the lives of Nigerians.
Dickson spoke at the 60th birthday of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, where the leaders of the 2015 coalition were gloating over their success that gained power for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Amaechi, then Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, led Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to APC. Nigeria has not recovered from that move that birthed Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency.
Another coalition by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Amaechi, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, is in the works. They want to oust Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Buhari’s successor.
When top politicians across Nigeria gathered to celebrate Amaechi in Abuja on Saturday, they were also celebrating their successes in the earlier coalition.
Atiku had earlier declared himself, Amaechi, and el-Rufai as conspirators, referring to their move on Jonathan. Atiku said he, Amaechi, and the opposition coalition were united against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Sen Dickson put coalition in perspective when he charged his political colleagues to be mindful of the choices they make. He reminded them that their past conspiracy and coalition, which removed the Peoples Democratic Party and Goodluck Jonathan from office in 2015, had not favoured Nigerians.
“When I came in here and climbing up here, I’ve seen many of you. And as my brother said, there are a number of you who are expert conspirators, who know how to assemble coalitions and then take out governments, as you did to my party in 2015,” Dickson said.
“When you did so, particularly to a clueless government, so-called, now 11 years down the line, we thought that there would have been no weaponisation of poverty and that all the challenges of Nigeria would have been gone.
“The only advice I can give, not being a professional coalition builder and conspirator as some of you are, is at this time, shine your eyes.”
The remarks doused the tempo of the celebration for a moment.
Amaechi was rewarded for helping Buhari to power with Minister of Transportation for the eight years of Buhari. He contested the primary to succeed Buhari but lost to Tinubu.
In Atiku’s case, when he lost the primary to Buhari for 2015, he returned to PDP, which he had destroyed and was its presidential candidate in 2019 and 2023.
Follow us on all social media platforms @dailyquery for news and analyses around the globe.
