Primate Elijah Ayodele, the leader of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, stated on Monday that the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which opposition leaders are currently supporting, will lose to President Bola Tinubu in 2027 but gain strength over the PDP, the Labour Party, and other political parties.
The party will fail, according to Primate Ayodele, because those who are leaving will be more focused on their own interests than wresting power away from the ruling party.
The well-known prophet cautioned the party against accepting candidates who will cause it to fail and to be wary of the influx of new members in a message released by his media assistant, Oluwatosin Osho.
He said: “SDP will be stronger than PDP and Labour. It will be the party to watch, but greed will make the party fail in 2027. Those who will be decamping there will not be focused on winning power but on enriching themselves.
“The party must be careful because of the large number of people joining, and they must be watchful not to give tickets to failures. They must ensure that sentiment and emotions do not influence their selection process.”
Primate Ayodele underlined that a solid alliance comprising all opposition parties is necessary to address the issue of the 2027 elections, since it cannot be fixed by a simple partnership with another party.
He pointed out that it will be difficult to overthrow President Tinubu and that adhering to conventional political party structures will not result in success.
“The issue of the 2027 presidency cannot be addressed through a mere coalition; it won’t be about just one party but rather a strong alliance. Coalitions can break, but alliances cannot. A coalition may not last or deliver the desired outcome, but a solid alliance can.
“Defeating Tinubu is not a joke; he is very strong, and it will not be easy. Following the usual political party approach will not achieve anything. A new alliance must be formed under a new name, and if this is successfully done, victory will be possible,” he said.
Furthermore, he emphasized that the opposition should not rely on governors for the coalition, since they will betray it.
He urged that the coalition should be established around the people and listed several opposition governors who would not be part of it.
“I also want to warn them not to depend on governors, as they will betray any coalition they try to form. They should build this alliance around the people because some governors are already out of it.
“Some governors, like Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, and others that I will mention later, will not be part of the alliance,” he added.
This coincides with efforts to establish a coalition by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and former PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.
