Opposition coalition parties defeating Tinubu won't be tea party

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

The Labour Party (LP) candidate in the Anambra State governorship election, George Moghalu, has said it will not be a tea party to defeat an incumbent president in the forthcoming presidential election.

The former Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) also argued that the only way the incumbent could be removed is by presenting a credible, formidable opposition with unity of purpose among opposition political parties and leaders.

He hinged his argument on the difficulty that the late President Muhammadu Buhari experienced contesting under the umbrella of several political parties before actualising his dream under a coalition of political parties.

Speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday on the possibility of opposition coalition parties defeating President Bola Tinubu, he said: “Let me repeat what I have consistently said: that removing an incumbent is not a tea party.

“We must be clear about that. And the only way you can remove an incumbent or present a credible, formidable opposition is when there is unity of purpose amongst the opposition political parties and leaders,” he noted.

While explaining further, Moghalu said: “It has happened before in this country. Because I try to use experiences and lessons to draw an analogy of issues confronting us.

“In this country, if you remember, when ANPP, CPC, ACN were all running independently, even though we presented Buhari in 2003 and 2007, he lost those two elections. He now left ANPP and equally ran on CPC in 2011 and lost.

“He lost because in that election, the support base of the opposition was fragmented. ANPP had their own chunk, ACN had their own chunk, CPC had their own chunk. At the end of the day, the portion that was PDP happened to be more.

“We all lost. But the moment there was an amalgamation of forces, ACN, CPC, ANPP, a fraction of APGA then joined, even DPN also joined. We had a very formidable opposition. That was what produced APC and then when all these forces came together, we presented a formidable opposition.

“By then, our leader in ACN, who is the present president now, our leader in CPC, who was the former president, our leader in ANPP, late Ogbonnia Onuh, all came together and agreed that if we go individually, we lose. It is not a case of merger, it is not a case of alliance. It is a case of everybody dropping their ambition, everybody dropping their individual egos, everybody dropping their own individual ambition.

“Let us come together, present a formidable platform and make meaning. We were able to now confront the opposition. The same scenario is playing out again and it will continue to be the same. Anytime opposition is fragmented, there is no way you can win.

“Basically, the field is open. If the opposition decides to work together, that is welcome. In fact, it will even make the incumbent sit up and do things better. Because the moment opposition is very formidable, it is the people that benefit, not even the opposition leaders, but the people that benefit. Because the people now become an issue.

“The opposition will be presenting themselves as defenders of the oppressed. And the incumbent will do everything to make sure that there is nobody to be oppressed, not less of defending the oppressed,” he posited.