By Adegboyega Adeleye

African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain Solomon Dalung has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu would lose the 2027 election even if his opponent were “anybody picked on the street,” arguing that the President was afraid of facing voters.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Dalung made the prediction while responding to a question about how the opposition could overcome the APC’s resources amid the current internal leadership and legal crisis in the ADC. He nevertheless insisted the party was ready to challenge Tinubu at the ballot.

“Since my experience in politics, like I always say, Nigerians, I was brought into politics at a much tender age. I have never seen a weak president in an election like Bola Ahmed Tinubu. If you drag anybody on the street and put him on a ballot at a contest with Tinubu, he will defeat him,” Dalung said.

He claimed Tinubu was apprehensive about the election despite having been in office for four years, and challenged the President and APC to let the contest be decided by voters.

“Bola Tinubu is so scared, having been in office for four years, he is so scared of election. And all we are seeing in ADC, let’s meet at the ballot. You claim it was the ballot that brought you to power, let’s meet at the ballot,” he said.

Dalung also accused the APC of obstructing opposition parties’ campaign activities, alleging that venues had been closed, hotels taken over and party offices sealed. He compared the situation with the 2014 election period, saying the APC would have been left with few places to campaign if it had faced similar restrictions then.

“Nobody will be blamed except Tinubu. Why? Because I mean, in the history of Nigeria, we have seen opposition parties contest election, but we have never seen this type of situation. If the PDP in 2014 were closing venues for rallies and taking over hotels, sealing party offices, the APC would have no place to campaign except the streets,” he said.

He argued that moving the opposition onto the streets would not weaken its campaign, claiming those attending its gatherings were genuine supporters rather than people hired to fill rallies.

“Now, for Tinubu and his APC to move the opposition on pit, they have lost the election. This is because the people we are having on the street are organic followers. Those are the Nigerians that will vote. They are not rented crowds from all over the federation,” Dalung said.

2027: Tinubu will lose if he contests against anybody picked on street — Dalung

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