2027: AA woos Showunmi adopts him as governorship flag bearer in Ogun

From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

Ahead of the 2027 general election, the Ogun State chapter of the Action Alliance (AA) political party has declared its readiness to hand over its  governorship ticket to the Convener of The Alternative Movement, Segun Showunmi.

This decision was announced by the State Chairman of AA, Professor Tunde Adebola, when he led the executive members of the party to the GRA Ibara residence of Showunmi, at the weekend.

Defending the decision of the party, Adebola explained that Showunmi remained the best prepared among those aspiring to contest for the governorship position in the state.

He added that the party over the years, has watched and studied the former spokesperson of the Atiku Presidential Campaign Council during the 2019 general election, agitate for better governance not only in Ogun, but also Nigeria.

The Ogun AA chairman stated further that Showunmi, through The Alternative Movement, has continued to advocate for strong opposition against the ruling party, and mobilized  Nigerians to participate in politics and election processes.

While declaring that his party  was ready to key into the vision and leadership commitment of The Alternative Movement,  Adebola said that AA in Ogun will give his governorship ticket to Showunmi and equally campaign vigorously for him to win the election.

He submitted that the party has no doubt that The Alternative Movement Convener has the capacity to govern Ogun and deliver people-centred governance capable of moving the state forward, if given the mandate.

Responding, Showunmi thanked the party for believing in his dreams and ideas of better Ogun and Nigeria, and declared his acceptance of the party’s decision to present him as its governorship candidate in 2027.

He, however, expressed worries that the country’s democracy is fast becoming a “skit” due to voters apathy and a fixation on trivialities over developmental discourse.

He said that  Nigerians are the loudest global critics of government, but their refusal to participate in the party-building and voting processes is undermining the nation’s democratic integrity.

Showunmi further lamented the fragmented state of the opposition, saying he has been doing the “heavy lifting” to fuse opposition parties into a formidable force.

He dismissed the idea that “elderly and over recycled political’ figures can simply “wish a coalition into existence,” insisting that the newly amended Electoral Act necessitates a more rigorous, party-driven approach to midwifing an alternative to the ruling APC.

​”We are the only country in the world that feels the need to be writing Electoral Acts every four years, Papers don’t implement themselves; laws don’t implement themselves, rather, it is an attitudinal change we need the most”, he pointed out.

While lamenting that the media and the public have allowed politicians to tribalize political conversation rather than focusing on security, education and infrastructure, Showunmi called for a shift from the status quo toward what he described as. “Awolowo 2.0″ – a modern refinement of the developmental ideals of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

​”I am not interested in government as usual. I’m not interested in a housing policy that builds only for the rich. I am not interested in the primary healthcare that isn’t working. If the people don’t believe in the ideas I’ve been exposing, I am not here to govern anybody by force”, he concluded.