Segun Sowunmi says Peter Obi has turned out to be his ‘greatest disappointment’ due to his perceived receptiveness to the coalition movement spearheaded by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other opposition figures in the country. 

Obi, who dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2022 for the Labour Party, where he was presented as the 2023 presidential candidate, has become a political force in Nigeria.

However, as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 general election, opposition politicians, including Obi, are making moves to boost their chances.

To wrest power from the ruling party in 2027, former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is championing a coalition of opposition figures to come under one party that’ll sweep the All Progressives Congress out of power.

According to reports, Atiku proposed Obi as his running mate for the coalition, promising that the former governor of Anambra State would succeed him. 

Even though Atiku is a PDP leader, there are indications that he may dump the party for the coalition he spearheads.

In their recent meeting, opposition politicians set up a team to decide whether to float a new party or fuse into an existing platform. 

Meanwhile, the PDP Governors have rejected the Atiku-led coalition, insisting that the movement must be party-driven. 

Also, Sowunmi, a longstanding ally of the former Vice President, has expressed dissatisfaction with his principal’s move, stressing that the PDP has to be the base of the coalition.

He also labelled the coalition movement a selfish adventure to favour a set of politicians.

In his bid to save the PDP, Sowunmi recently called on the party’s leadership to bring Obi back to the party.

The PDP chieftain also warned Obi against the coalition, saying the politicians in the movement are only interested in taking advantage of his popularity for the 2027 general elections.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’, Sowunmi said he was disappointed in Obi because he failed to take advantage of his popularity by aligning with the main opposition force in the country. 

“My greatest disappointment as we are getting ready for 2027 is actually Peter. The reason is that I had hoped in all of his seriousness that Peter will understand that we can move and challenge the status quo, not the way he’s been doing it all by himself. We could do that just to be able to take the outcome, even if it’s a defeat, we’ll say we gave it the best push, and we shattered the glass ceilings and united the country because there’s no glass ceiling on top of the South East. You made one effort and then the next thing you’re doing you started running up and down the street,” Sowunmi said.

The PDP chieftain said he told Obi that if he failed to make up his mind by May 29, he would be inclined to declare his support for President Tinubu in the next election.

His words: “ I told him many months before that if your mind is not made up by May 29 this year on what you want to do, I’m going to be more inclined to support Asiwaju. And the simple reason is this, I told him Peter, the benefits that we have done now by integrating you as someone that can be leader of the Igbo political force, and in a pan Nigerian environment, I do not think throw it away but it’s your call, if you want to do that all this coalition this, coalition that. I’m thinking that you’re bringing a new order.” 

Although it is not clear if Obi has officially joined the Atiku-led coalition, he has been seen attending the movement’s meetings.