Ex-Governor Dickson Labels Atiku, Amaechi, El-Rufai As ‘Professional Conspirators’ In 2027 Coalition Plans, Laments APC Merger’s Failure To Improve Nigeria

The immediate past Bayelsa State Governor and current Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, on Saturday labelled former Rivers and Kaduna governors, Rotimi Amaechi and Nasir El-Rufai, alongside former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and others, as “professional coalition builders and conspirators.”

Dickson criticised the leading politicians for their ongoing efforts to forge a new coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections, lamenting what he described as a persistent culture of political conspiracy and recycled alliances among Nigeria’s elite.

He noted that he had once hoped Nigeria’s myriad challenges would be resolved by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a party born from a coalition spearheaded in 2015 by El-Rufai and others. However, he expressed disappointment that, 11 years later, the country remained mired in poverty.

Dickson made these remarks during an event in honour of Amaechi’s 60th birthday, which was attended by top politicians from across the country, including Atiku and El-Rufai.

“When I came in here and climbing up here, I have seen a lot of you. And as my brother El-Rufai earlier said, there are a number of you who are expert conspirators, who know how to assemble coalitions and then take over the government as you did to my party in 2015,” Dickson said pointedly, referencing the 2015 general elections which saw the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lose to the APC in a landmark political shift.

He continued, “And when you did so, particularly to a clueless government, so-called, now 11 years down the line, we thought that there would have been no weaponisation of poverty and that all the challenges of Nigeria would be gone.

“But 11 years down the line, here we are, assembled to still bemoan the fate of our country.”

Dickson’s comments come at a time of renewed political manoeuvring, with several opposition and former ruling party figures negotiating new alliances ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The ongoing coalition includes Atiku, the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections; Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation under President Muhammadu Buhari; and El-Rufai, who recently defected from the ruling APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

SaharaReporters learned that Atiku, speaking earlier at the event, described himself, Amaechi, and El-Rufai as “conspirators.”

Atiku said that he, Amaechi, and the broader opposition coalition are united in their stance against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

While he refrained from naming specific individuals beyond Amaechi and El-Rufai, his remarks were widely understood to target a powerful network of political actors who prioritise strategic alliances.

“The only advice I can give, not being a professional coalition builder and conspirator, as some of you are, is that this time, shine your eyes. As you build a coalition and conspire, shine your eyes,” he warned.

Dickson also criticised the overemphasis of state governors and other politicians on physical projects at the expense of core people’s needs.

“It is good for governors to build roads and flyovers but then, you must identify priorities,” he said.

“Security, investing in education, investing in healthcare and showing and demonstrating democratic temper in the way you handle and manage things underline the truth.”

Dickson served as Governor of Bayelsa State from 2012 to 2020, before being elected as a senator on the PDP platform.

His comments reflect long-standing tensions between current and former PDP members and those who defected to form or support the APC coalition that unseated the PDP in 2015.

Amaechi, who played a pivotal role in that coalition shift, served as Director-General of President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign and later as Minister of Transportation.

El-Rufai, another prominent figure in the APC, was often seen as one of its key ideological architects.

Ex-Governor Dickson Labels Atiku, Amaechi, El-Rufai As ‘Professional Cospirators’ In 2027 Coalition Plans, Laments APC Merger’s Failure To Improve Nigeria