Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, says President Bola Tinubu and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, understand Nigeria’s political dynamics, arguing that cross-party alliances are not new to the country’s democratic experience.
Adebayo, who spoke in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, said the political collaboration involving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and members of opposition parties should be understood within the context of Nigeria’s political history.
He said, “If anybody was in doubt before that Minister Wike was right, the inauguration of the presidential campaign council of the APC has cleared all of that. That the party will go for a rainbow coalition and that Wike is one way straight while those governors are indeed far wrong.
“And to me, sir, there is nothing new in that argument. It existed in the First Republic, in the Second Republic.”
Citing the First Republic, Adebayo explained that political parties formed alliances to strengthen their positions ahead of elections.
He said, “You know we had a party called UPGA. UPGA was an amalgamation of an Action Group, then the Midwest Congress by Tarka, and some other splinter political parties, which they put together to fail the NCNC.
“Likewise, the NCNC and the NPC also teamed together, by which they went into the 1964 election.”
On the Second Republic, Adebayo said the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), which won the presidential election with Shehu Shagari, had to form an alliance with the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) to secure sufficient political support.
He said, “NPN won with Shehu Shagari as the president, but NPN could not muster enough majority, and they had to go to the alliance with NPP of Chief Zik.
“They considered the House of Representatives Speaker to the NPP. It was thought an NPN man; he belonged to NPP. They considered it to him, and they also brought on board people like this, and the man who later became National Chairman too, later became PDP National Chairman, Adebayo. Then Canada, Canada from our state, it means the letter Adebayo. They were all in NPP, and they were appointed ministers under the NPN government.”
Adebayo also cited political appointments and alliances during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as evidence that political cooperation across party lines was not unusual.
He said, “So, then in 1999, when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo became president, he brought in Chief Bola Ige as a minister. Chief Bola Ige contested as presidential candidate under the Alliance for Democracy, and he lost. But he came on board and joined the party.
“And even Chief Olusegun Obasanjo went ahead and appointed Babatunde Raji Fashola’s daughter, Mrs. Muri Adeja, as a minister. So, there is nothing new about it.”
The senior lawyer further recalled the formation of the Progressive People’s Party ahead of the 1983 general election, describing it as a coalition involving the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), NPP, the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) and the Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP).
He said the parties held meetings across different states but failed to agree on a single presidential candidate.
Adebayo added that some political figures also crossed party lines during the period, citing Borno State Governor Mohammed Goni, who contested under the UPN after leaving the GNPP, and Kaduna State Governor Balarabe Musa, who sought an alliance with the UPN following his impeachment.
Addressing concerns that the current collaboration could trigger disagreements between Wike and APC governors over political support at state and national levels, Adebayo said he did not foresee an implosion.
He said, “I don’t see any implosion. And if we look at this democracy experience of ours, we have two-re-politicians: the president himself and Mr. Yesom Wike. And they’ve shown, over a period of time, they are the re-politicians who understand the games.
“The APC governors, they are looking for easy route to victory, which is not possible. What they want from Mr. Wike is for him to upload all his supporters and loyalists to back their candidate in their various states. Well, who does that?”
Using electoral outcomes in the South-East to support his argument, Adebayo said APC candidates had won legislative seats in the region despite the party’s presidential candidate failing to secure five per cent of the votes in any of the states during the 2023 presidential election.
He said, “And you see Mr. Wike is very wise. He has said to them, ‘Okay, look at the Southeast.’ During the 2023 election, in all the Southeast states, the president did not get five per cent in any of the states.
“Whereas in the Southeast states, we have APC senators who won, we have APC reps who won, and we have APC assembly members in majority. And also, we had APC governors.
“Yet, let’s confine to the presidential election. The presidential election and the National Assembly held the same day. They won, then the Deputy Speaker now also won. Likewise, all other APC members. Whereas, they could not muster the same support which they did for themselves for the president.
“So why did they now ask Wike? But Wike, in Rivers State, he delivered for the president. Then he produced governor, he produced senators. So there is no confusion about it. It is very clear. There’s no confusion.”
Adebayo also cited the 2023 election in Oyo State to illustrate how political parties could make concessions to support candidates outside their party.
He said, “You want it to work for your interest. So let me give you an example. In Oyo State, in 2023, we had… even Governor Fashola’s campaign for President Tinubu, and APC sacrificed their own governorship candidate for him, and he was elected.
Boluwatife Enome
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