Festus Keyamo, minister of Aviation and aerospace development, has come hard on former Kaduna governor Nasiru El-Rufa, describing his ‘political coalition’ planning to oust President Bola Tinubu in 2027 general election as psychological warfare on Nigerians.

“This is just a simple application for party registration. There is nothing like a ‘coalition’ here. It is an unnecessary hype the promoters have been struggling to create all along; it is just a psychological warfare on Nigerians – a weak attempt at mass appeal,” Mr Keyamo said on Friday. 

Mr El-Rufai and some key opposition leaders, which included former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and Kashim Ibrahim-Imam had joined forces by holding meetings to unseat Mr Tinubu in 2027. 

Mr Keyamo’s comment came after the coalition applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking the registration of a new political party, All Democratic Alliance (ADA) in what could be described as another significant political development since the 2023 general election in the country. 

This comes a few days after the electoral body warned political groups that no amount of pressure would override the need for strict compliance with constitutional and electoral guidelines. 

The application signals the coalition’s desperate efforts to float a new platform instead of aligning with any existing political party in the country. 

Although some critics have labelled the coalition as dead on arrival, pointing to the rolls of the key actors and sponsors. 

While noting that the coalition would not stand, Mr Keyamo described the move by the opposition leaders to unseat Mr Tinubu as a ‘pedestrian joke’ and a mockery of the move birthed the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013.

“No recognised existing political party or parties are part of this. If they are thinking of recreating what the APC did in 2013, then this is nothing but a pedestrian joke; a complete mockery of that seismic political coalition that birthed APC in 2013.”

He said a few individuals exercising their constitutional right to form a new political party cannot be described as a ‘coalition’ or even a ‘merger’.

“This is not different from several political associations springing up everyday for the same purpose,” he said. 

According to him, “After all the razzmatazz, it boils down to the fact that a new political party is just attempting registration by a few Nigerians; it is a disappointing anti-climax to all the preceding pomp and pageantry.”