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Guardian Nigeria
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00:002027 is fast approaching and of course uh nigeria political landscape actually taking
00:06shape we have seen quite a number of deflections from uh opposition parties to the ruling party
00:11apc uh we're going to be looking at these trends of deflections and what it actually means for
00:18nigeria's election coming in 2027. you stick around as we talk about the nigerian political
00:24landscape highlight of 2027. hi i'm only okay yeah for the sake of our viewers and listeners at home
00:41can you please uh introduce yourself my name is leo sobechi i am deputy editor of politics for
00:47lugudian all right i thank you so much uh mr leo we are looking at uh nigeria's political landscape
00:57ahead of 2027 election quite a number of things is actually going on uh we look at the deflections
01:03from opposition party to apc and of course recently we have a coalition coming up and you know they
01:11they came up with the adc looking higher to challenge the ruling party in 2027. what is your
01:18own uh opinion or how would you react to some of these uh ongoing behind the scenes that we are seeing
01:24in the political landscape of nigeria well from uh we have to go a little bit back in history
01:35in 1999 when this uh presidential democracy started okay when you discover that what was apparent
01:48was the intervention of the military there was still the military hangover in both the
01:55formation of political parties and management of political parties
01:59so we ended up with a west side democracy okay reason being that a former military leader who has
02:12been used to command and control became the president he had no background training or experience in politics
02:24in the dialectics of politics in the dialectics of politics of civil governance so you now saw the
02:30element of jackboot politics which ended up in the garrison style of the pdp
02:40the lack of internal democracy political parties vitiated that democratic experience expected
02:48by nigerians the ideals of democracy we are lost so fast forward to 2025
02:582000 and the year 2025 what you call coalition is at best a gang up by politically exposed people
03:09people to retrieve power or to take political power by just the mere force of their person not the ideas
03:28they enunciate
03:29they enunciate
03:31they enunciate the element of garrison politics at play again
03:41because if you look at the national assembly there is a total loss of citizen inclusion not many
03:50legislators both states and federal
03:54undertakes citizen
03:57consultation prior to any major motion
04:03or bill
04:05in the legislative houses
04:08what you now see is the play of persons and not the people
04:14these individual aspirations
04:16now make it seem as if the essential element of democracy which revolves around the people
04:28is lost
04:30okay
04:31we have been listening
04:33sorry we have been listening to hear what are the bullet points or the underpinning arguments
04:41of those trying to coalesce under another platform
04:45so you now see that instead of bottom-up approach you have a an imposition of idea thank you
04:52thank you mr leo for that one i'm looking at this angle that recently president tinubu celebrated
04:58two years in office and um we were on the street we asked nigerians their reactions to you know the
05:05two years in office so far and many of them you know their opinion were missed feelings uh some
05:11were still hopeful that of course the remaining two years will be quite you know different from
05:16what we have whatever is going to be good might always be like this at first but but that's not
05:20where i'm going i'm looking at the masses now ahead of 2027 apc looks to be gaining more forces with
05:28the deflations and then the coalition you know api was called adc we have the obedience movement
05:34with peter obi and all that just two days ago the running mate of uh peter obi in 2023 election that
05:41uh professor dati announced that he is going to also be contesting for the presidential you know
05:47it looks as if the coalition or the opposition per se is not really intact so how do how does this
05:55uh affect nigeria so what do i mean in a sense that people are looking for two alternatives some are
06:01saying that oh they are looking at who and what party can challenge the ruling party what is your
06:08own uh take as regards does the masses have another option to what they currently have
06:17no you still see the that idea i was talking about of citizen exclusion and power play
06:25because even when you are little terrible two years in office the two angles he scored made him to be
06:35coming from the back by two angles i mean you understand the two angles are the removal of the
06:43subsidy and the flotation of denial without having a cabinet without the proper debriefing of his economic
06:52management team so what you see him trying to do is that a man who is driving a lorry down the road
07:00he was just trying to hold the the the four okay understand that's how i described that i
07:07described those policy initiatives as own goals okay now you come to the aspect of the people
07:15there is no proper coordination or survey of what the people want or what will be the people's
07:26feelings about particular initiative so this conversation should precede policy decisions not
07:35after you see this you can still see the jackboot mentality the guard is in politics where power we
07:43have to do it without factoring in the people aspect that is democracy the demo i i think i really
07:50understand you because if we look at democracy as as per se you know this is a government they say
07:55it's for the people but what we have currently is it really for the people because out rightly i think
08:04we all know the answer because the people obviously have no say as it stands okay so just uh to digress
08:10a little bit before we round up um we have seen quite a number of deflections major deflections to
08:17opposition party and of course to the coalition recently uh the presidential candidate for pdp in 2023
08:24uh talking about uh his excellency uh talking about uh his excellency uh officially resigned from the pdp
08:33and joined the adc meanwhile he mr will be yet to do that and people are now beginning to ask questions is
08:42peter will be really with the coalition or not so your own take as you got these deflections
08:50on the part of the adc do you see them being strong enough without uh peter will be and do you think
08:58peter will be alone can also mount a a sustainable challenge for 2027
09:08well uh you spoke about article i am sorry to say that that people have shown himself
09:13uh so so much inclined to leadership without recourse to the feeling of his followers i remember in 2019
09:27he contested against buhari yeah in 2023 his aspiration to contest the presidential ticket of pdp led to the
09:40current crisis in the pdp when people who don't respect convenance or gentleman agreements it raises
09:48question about their ability to lead in a democracy now before i go on i talk about the defection so
09:57called now you will notice that none of those even governors defecting there is no record of them
10:04holding town hall meetings to really throw this to the people this is what i see from the advantage
10:12position as a governor this is options on my table what should i do you hold the mandate of these people
10:20you do not exist by your power none of those things we are done now i'm coming to
10:25you to be and all that in the last uh two years the opinion movement have shown some little uh attempt
10:36at organization you can pin some elements of philosophy of function quite unlike those gathering around
10:46adc in the name of coalition what i mean by philosophy of function is that there must be an agenda
10:55for a meeting for a meeting it is the only agenda of a meeting that differentiates it from a mob
11:02a marketplace so the coalition as far as the marketplace of power mongers excuse me
11:12all right mr new
11:15i say that there should be integrity as bad background
11:21of leadership recruitment if you look at competence you look at character these are the basic essentials
11:28for which the citizens can i say
11:32can evaluate those who want to lead them but this term that boots mentality the girl is in politics is still
11:41as way at play okay uh as to whether the people will have the last laugh in 2027 depends on how much
11:53work is done in the legislature by way of electoral reforms to make sure that the voices of people are
11:59okay okay and talking about the electoral reforms i think president nubu uh made the proposals they were this initiative with high neck and that they are working on some of this initiative to get better ahead of 2027 uh just on the last call
12:17so what would be your your own advice you know to the electoral bodies so that we we have we will not
12:24have uh reoccurrence of the disparities and you know uh issues we had in previous elections for 2027
12:31i think that uh any serious effort to reform the electoral system in the country will start by ensuring that
12:41iron is truly independent and that the masses have a say in who presides over the commission and that parties who have representatives
12:54you understand very well there will be objectivity okay okay uh i think because of our time
13:04yes would i have to go now but i most really appreciate you mr leo sobechi from abuja thank
13:10you for joining us on the show today my pleasure thank you for the work you do thank you and and yes
13:17subsequently we will reach out to you to discuss more as we look at the landscape of the future you
13:22know elections well i appreciate that that's what that's the work we do thank you you're welcome
13:27sir thank you so much it's been an insightful edition on guardian talks today as we look uh you
13:33know into the political landscape of nigeria ahead of 2027 election uh we're going to bring you
13:39subsequent uh development as we got this particular one i am oluka de olumuyo and it's been an awesome time
13:45with you on the show today until next time i'm out of here
13:55you