2027: Electorate, not govs, will determine Tinubu’s fate — Adetokunbo Pearse

…says many govs he is drafting into APC can’t win elections for him

A chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Adetokunbo Pearse, has said that the chances of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu winning his second term election will depend on how the electorate judged his performance in office between 2023 and 2027 and not on how many governors he is able to draft into his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Pearse, a Convener, Reset Lagos PDP and Member, National PDP Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 General Election, gave this position in a chat with our correspondent, declaring pointedly that the defection of former Governor Okowa of Delta State, incumbent Governors Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Imoh Eno (Akwa-Ibom) or any other prominent PDP figure to APC cannot erase what he described as the abysmal record of President Tinubu’s administration.

This was just as he recalled that the affected defectors were roundly rejected when they went to appeal to their party members for support, insisting that people of Delta, Enugu, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states would vote for a viable PDP replacement for those he described as “these selfish, turncoat leaders.”

According to Pearse, who is also a Public Affairs Analyst and Convener, Reset PDP, Tinubu’s alleged failure to rejuvenate the economy, protect the people from terrorists and bandits, his disrespect for the tenets of democracy, among others are reasons why Nigerians will vote him out of office in 2027, assuring that the citizens would be hopeful that the PDP, after its successful National Convention, coming up on 15th/16th November, 2025 in Ibadan, “will present them with a vibrant presidential candidate; a person with the requisite capacity to recalibrate Nigeria for a better tomorrow.”

“Whether Tinubu wins the Presidency in 2027 will not depend on how many governors he is able to draft into his party. His chances will depend on how the electorate judge his performance between 2023 and 2027. Defection of Okowa, Sheriff, Mbah, Douye Diri, Imoh Eno or any other prominent PDP figure to APC cannot erase the abysmal record of Tinubu’s administration.

“Notice that when these high profile defectors went to appeal to their PDP members for support, they were roundly rejected. The citizens of Delta State, Enugu State, Bayelsa State and Akwa Ibom State will vote for a viable PDP replacement for these selfish, turncoat leaders.

“Tinubu’s failure to rejuvenate the economy, his failure to protect the people from terrorists and bandits,his wasteful, extravagant , self -centerd lifestyle, as well as his disrespect for the tenets of democracy is why Nigerians will vote him out of office in 2027. Be rest assured that after its successful National Convention on 15th/16th November 2025 in Ibadan, Nigerians will be hopeful that the PDP will present them with a vibrant Presidential candidate; a person with the requisite capacity to recalibrate Nigeria for a better tomorrow,” Pearse said.

Speaking further, Dr. Pearse, who also a Member, Board of Governors of the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI), expressed disillusionment with the defections of governors voted for under the PDP “umbrella and suddenly decided to abandon their responsibility as leaders of the party in their states” and thereby betrayed the trust reposed on them by their people.

The PDP chieftain, however, said, as an analyst, he was not in the least perturbed because of the knowledge he had that the political party of a governor does not necessarily translate to victory for his presidential candidate in that state, giving what was witnessed in the 2023 polls.

According to him, ahead of the last general elections, the ruling APC had 22 governors, saying that Tinubu, its presidential candidate won in only eight (8) of those states.

He further recalled that of the 12 states won in that election by the Presidential Candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, only four (4) “of them had PDP governors, the remaining 8 were states governed by APC governors.”

“Did Sanwo-Olu, the APC Governor of Lagos not lose Lagos State to Peter Obi, the maverick Labour Party Candidate? And did Obi not win 11 states and FCT without his party, the Labour Party having a single State Governor?” he queried.