Former spokesperson to late President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua,
Segun Adeniyi, has advised opposition parties in the country to form a coalition
now if they are serious about defeating President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
Adeniyi, who is the Chairman of ThisDay Board of Editors
made the observation in his recently launched book, “Against the Run of Play.”
He narrated that the then opposition was able to defeat
former President, Goodluck Jonathan because they formed a coalition.
Adeniyi said once the opposition rallied together, it was
easier to defeat Jonathan at the polls.
He said: “Majority of African incumbents don’t lose
elections. So, when I researched on this, I discovered the same issue but I now
realised that incumbency factor is not really the factor. When I looked at it,
I said the real problem is the factionalisation of the opposition. I wrote a
piece on this and I used the Nigerian example then.
“Later, I turned it into an article after the election. So,
united they win, divided they lose. There was no way Buhari could have defeated
Jonathan, given the fact that there was no strong opposition then, until the
coalition was formed.
“If the opposition are really serious they should begin to
work towards coalition.”
By Seun Opejobi
