By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta
The Convener of The Alternative Movement and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Otunba Segun Sowunmi, at the weekend commenced grassroots mobilisation in Ogun State in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid in the 2027 presidential election.
Sowunmi, who spoke during a grassroots mobilisation programme in the Itoko area of Abeokuta South local government area of the State capital, said he was backing President Bola Tinubu because he believed the administration’s economic direction and policy choices were moving the country towards greater fiscal capacity.
According to him, Nigeria needs continuity in governance and sufficient time for governments to implement long-term policies, rather than changing direction every four years.
“We are here because I have chosen this day, in my capacity as a very strong grassroots leader here in Ogun State, especially as the promoter and convener of the Alternative Movement,” he said.
Sowunmi said he had consistently defended the economic policies of the Tinubu administration over the past years, arguing that a government needed adequate resources to execute its programmes.
“I have been screaming and shouting that the economic direction, the policy ideas, and the things that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing are in the right direction for the country,” he said.
“You cannot run a nation on an agenda that says the country will not have money. Because if you don’t have money, what will you even be able to do?”
He claimed that increased revenues had created more resources at the federal, state and local government levels, and argued that the development process required policy stability.
Sowunmi said Nigeria should embrace what he described as the “principle of the pendulum”, under which political power alternates between the northern and southern parts of the country.
“I believe that, for us to be able to make this country a great nation and to hold it together, we must respect the principle of the pendulum,” he said.
“If it is the time of the Northern Protectorate, they should bring us a candidate we’ll take. If it is the time of the Southern Protectorate, they should give us a candidate we’ll take.”
He argued that democratic governance and policy implementation required continuity, citing countries such as Singapore and Malaysia as examples of nations that, in his view, achieved development through consensus and sustained policy direction.
“We cannot be changing leadership every four years. Democracy is very difficult, and the ability to implement policy requires a bit of time,” he said.
Sowunmi said the mobilisation would begin at the polling-unit level, with further engagements planned across the State.
He added that he planned to proceed with local government-level mobilisation before taking the campaign to the six local government areas in Ogun Central Senatorial District.
Sowunmi also said he would mobilise his political structure in Ijebu and other parts of the state in support of Tinubu.
“I will go and raise that structure and tell them that it has to be Bola Tinubu and nothing else,” he said.
‘Tinubu has an advantage in Southwest’
Sowunmi argued that political actors seeking the presidency outside what he considers the current political cycle should not underestimate Tinubu’s position.
“There is something called the principle of the planets. You will never see the moon and the stars come out when the sun is out,” he said.
“Anybody, especially from the Yoruba nation, who is calling himself anything when the sun is out is wasting his time.”
He further urged Yoruba voters to support Tinubu, arguing that the region should not be outperformed by other parts of the country in the number of votes cast for the President.
“I have come home to beg my people, Yoruba people, that you will not be ashamed,” he said.
“Because when the election is over and the people of the North-East, the North-West, and the North-Central produce more votes than you, then where will you put your face?”
Sowunmi also compared the 1999 and 2003 presidential elections, arguing that political fortunes could change significantly between election cycles.
“We are back to 2003. You did not give Obasanjo a significant number of votes in 1999, but by 2003, everything belonged to him,” he said.
Sowunmi said his support for Tinubu was also connected to his belief that Nigeria should avoid what he described as unnecessary political disruption.
“I am one of the people who worked very hard to ensure that we can have an arrangement of the pendulum. But right now, we can’t take unnecessary risks,” he said.
He also defended the principle of political rotation, recalling that former President Muhammadu Buhari, from the North, served two terms before Tinubu emerged as president in 2023.
“If power is in the North, Buhari did eight years. We did not disturb him,” he said.
“Now our son is there, breaking his back, breaking his head, working so hard, readjusting the country, doing all the things that need to be done.”
Sowunmi also criticised proposals that he believes would amount to a return to policies of the past, particularly regarding fuel subsidy.
“We have tried subsidy in this country. We started studying it from 1973, and between 1973 and date, we have seen the result. If it had worked, wouldn’t we have seen it?”
He also cited the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s refineries and the emergence of private-sector refining as part of his argument for continuing with the current direction of economic reforms.
“We have seen that nothing has worked,” he said. “They couldn’t even repair the refinery for so many years, and one private-sector person has run a refinery.”
Sowunmi urged Nigerians to look forward rather than return to policies he considers unsuccessful.
“No! We have left Egypt. Forward ever, backward never,” he said.
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